In the commercial, Biel humorously compliments her parents while her sister looks on skeptically. Her real goal, however, is to convince her family to visit McDonald’s and try the new Arch Deluxe. This quarter-pound cheeseburger, featuring vegetables, dijonnaise, and optional bacon, was McDonald’s attempt in the 1990s to cater to adult tastes, branding it as “the burger with the grown-up taste.” Despite McDonald’s investing heavily in what became the most expensive fast-food marketing campaign at the time, the Arch Deluxe turned out to be a major commercial failure.

Economist John List explored the Arch Deluxe debacle in his 2022 book, “The Voltage Effect,” and during an NPR interview, he described it as “a deluxe failure.” He noted that the focus groups McDonald’s used to test the burger mostly consisted of individuals enthusiastic about McDonald’s or adventurous eaters, leading to skewed feedback. List highlighted that many customers preferred the chain’s classic offerings over novel creations, pointing to common decision-making errors within McDonald’s management.

The Arch Deluxe’s infamous failure earned it a spot in the Museum of Failure, a traveling exhibit showcasing over 100 failed products from various industries, including a frozen lasagna by toothpaste brand Colgate.

Economist John List discussed the Arch Deluxe in his 2022 best-selling book, “The Voltage Effect”, and in an NPR interview called the burger “a deluxe failure.” He went on to point out that members of the focus groups on whom McDonalds gauged the potential market for deluxe sandwiches were a self-selected bunch “who is either crazy about McDonald’s or loves all kinds of burgers or loves to try new things.” 

He noted that most customers would prefer one of the chain’s tried-and-true favorites over a more experimental concoction, and went on to fault McDonalds’ decision-makers for making fairly common mistakes. The Arch Deluxe was such a legendary disappointment that it earned a place in the Museum of Failure, a traveling exhibit of more than 100 failed products. The museum features products from a wide array of industries, including a frozen lasagna from toothpaste giant Colgate.

Fortunately for Jessica Biel, the poor performance of the Arch Deluxe had zero negative affect on her career going forward. She made her feature film debut in the 1997 drama “Ulee’s Gold” and kept busy making commercials and music videos while she built her filmography. While still a teenager, Biel starred as Mary on the family-friendly drama “7th Heaven”, appearing on 134 of the series’ 234 episodes between 1996 and 2006. She also appeared in the 2003 reboot of “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” and the 2012 remake of “Total Recall.” She was nominated for an Emmy in 2018 for her work on “The Sinner” and most recently starred as Chloe Taylor in the Amazon series “The Better Sister” alongside Elizabeth Banks.

Biel has been married to singer and actor Justin Timberlake for over a decade and the superstar couple have two children together. Despite the fact that Timberlake has also been paid to endorse McDonalds products, Biel won’t take their kids to the fast-food joint. In August of 2025 she told AOL, “I just feel like I don’t know what’s going on with [the] quality of that food … Let’s go have a great burger and fries at a fancy place. I’d rather pay more for you to have something fancy than something like that.” For his own part Timberlake now regrets contributing to the chain’s “I’m Lovin’ It” jingle, even though he turned it into a hit song in Europe.