In an article for Variety from earlier this year, Kyle MacLachlan is quoted as saying, “There I was. I don’t care. I’m up for anything.” Although it was in reference to his rash of, let’s say, wondrously weird TikTok videos, the actor could have just as easily been referring to his latest “artistic” endeavor: a commercial for Arby’s. An unexpected addition to the “K-Mac” oeuvre, the actor perhaps mentioned wanting to make it more “bespoke” than usual to the fast-food chain—possibly suggesting that the marketing team come up with something “in his range.” And, well, they certainly did.
The commercial starts out “normally” enough, with MacLachlan pulling up to the intercom to relay his order: “Can I get a beef and cheddar? And for you to bring back the potato cakes please. Please. I really need them. I really need them.” The employee peers her head out of the drive-through window to say, “Sir, please, I keep telling you, they’re not coming back.” MacLachlan insists, “I know you have them.” The beleaguered employee returns, “Come on, Mr. MacLachlan.” Looking into the camera as though someone is watching him, he corrects her with, “Kyle MacLachlan.” She continues to rebuff his demand, insisting, “It’s over.” Defeated and tired of fighting, MacLachlan solemnly responds, “Okay, I’ll just have the beef and cheddar, thank you.” Seeing the sadness radiating off of him, the Arby’s worker can’t help but look sympathetic to his distinct yearning.
Just when MacLachlan has committed to surrendering to yet another day without potato cakes (or what Jewish people would probably call a bastardized latke), eerie music—Twin Peaks-y music—starts to play in the background. In the distance, he sees a shining yellow light suspended in mid-air, beckoning to him from the suburban version of “woods.” Wasting no time in getting out of his car (just as the Arby’s worker is about to hand off his order, too), MacLachlan beelines for the “nature area,” convinced the yellow light must be trying to tell him something. He’s not wrong, of course. For Agent Cooper-inspired instinct never lies. And when he follows that Lynchian light into a clearing in the woods, MacLachlan starts digging through the dirt to unearth the signaturely-shaped delight known as a potato cake.
The apparently oracle-like, stout triangle then proceeds to speak to MacLachlan in a combination of highfalutin gibberish and word salad until MacLachlan directly asks, “What?” The glowing potato cake (some might say it’s more “illuminati-coded” than Twin Peaks-coded) then answers simply, “Potato cakes are back.” That’s certainly more of a resolution than David Lynch could ever provide. But such is the way of capitalism: sooner or later (usually sooner), you have to tell the consumer what it wants. And it wants some damn fine potato cakes. For, ever since Arby’s discontinued the menu item in 2021 (instead opting to make its crinkle fries permanent “in lieu of” PCs or something), the outrage has been vocal and consistent.
Thus, when the commercial freeze-frames on MacLachlan holding the potato cake up toward the heavens, the following words are placed over the image: “Every vocal Arby’s potato cake lover on the internet manifested this [including, needless to say, MacLachlan]. Potato cakes are back for a limited time.” That “limited time” caveat perhaps being as ominous to some as any Lynchian narrative. As for MacLachlan carrying on the Twin Peaks-related torch, it’s but a continuation of his long-standing affection for the auteur, having once remarked in a 2012 interview with The Observer, “David Lynch plucked me from obscurity. He cast me as the lead in Dune and Blue Velvet, and people have seen me as this boy-next-door-cooking-up-something-weird-in-the-basement ever since.” (Now he’s just helping Arby’s cook up potato cakes.)
His enduring appreciation for their friendship was proudly showcased just a little over a week before posting the Arby’s commercial, putting up a video of various “Mac and Lynch” moments to the tune of Billie Eilish’s “Birds of a Feather” (because, as MacLachlan has made it clear by now, he’s a man who’s up on current trends and music). Who knows? Maybe it was but an “Easter egg” for how Lynch-oriented the Arby’s commercial was going to be.
On the heels of an iconic Arby’s on Sunset Boulevard closing (the one with the giant neon-worded cowboy hat), MacLachlan’s Lynchian homage to potato cakes might be just the thing to jumpstart the fast-food restaurant’s “career” again. Much as MacLachlan’s was by Blue Velvet. But, in this case, “the return” of something never tasted quite so good (ergo, endlessly unhealthy—as is also the way with Lynch-promoted menu items like pie and donuts).
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