How Savage Meat Sticks Differ From Regular Slim Jims

Considering the fact that Randy Savage is to be portrayed in NBC's new sitcom series Young Rock, one can expect a Slim Jim tie-in or reference at some point in the series. After all, Randy Savage so embodied the brand he represented in his 1990's televised ad appearances that Slim Jim introduced a Savage-sized package for their product to commemorate him in 2019 (via Trend Hunter).

As Slim Jim proudly declares on their company page for Savage Sticks, these meat tubes are three times the size of their Giant Slim Jim. That's a whole three ounces of meat versus the previous largest option of 0.97 ounces. Talking with Food Business News, Burke Raine, vice-president and general manager of Conagra Brands' snacks and sweet treats portfolio, explained and perhaps over-explained that calling the sticks Savage was meant both as a nostalgic homage for millennials who may remember the "Snap into a Slim Jim" ads and a play on the fact that people say "savage" to mean cool: "It works on multiple levels."

Most people who reviewed the product seem to like Savage Meat Sticks (via Slim Jim). A Savage Meat Stick contains 18 g of protein, three times that of the original Giant stick. Otherwise, the sticks have identical ingredients. One person, however, commented that with the increased size of the stick, they now have realized that perhaps it is possible to have too much of a good thing.

In a piece chronicling the evolution of the Slim Jim, The Takeout assigns Randy Savage a pivotal role in the meat stick's history. In the 1990s, making advertisements and mascots that appealed to Generation X became an imperative. So, the advertising team turned to Sam Kinison, a stand-up. That didn't work out, so they offered the gig to Macho Man Randy Savage.

The advertisements, as Mel Magazine describes, feature Randy Savage reprising his "Macho Man," where he bursts upon a scene of young boys being bored by adults, smashing things, and telling them to eat Slim Jims. "Randy Savage was the perfect Slim Jim spokesperson because his ... personality mirrored what Slim Jim represents," Spencer Fivelson, Slim Jim brand director, told Mel.

He did so to the degree that in 2019, Mattel released a Macho Man action figure decked out in his Slim Jim advertising costume. Lanny "The Genius" Poffo told Sports Illustrated that "Randy loved Slim Jim and Slim Jim loved him. He believed in the product and saw this as another way to be accessible to his fans. It's nice to know that people still remember." People remember indeed. They remember to the extent that it would be interesting to see whether his Slim Jim affiliations play any background role in the fictionalized development of The Rock in Young Rock.