this post was submitted on 04 Nov 2023
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Okay, i’ll bite and try to answer these. Without knowing any details of which chain and where exactly this station is located (in a city/town or right off a motorway/interstate?)
A lot of “truck stop” type stations are this big to accommodate large vehicles and potential larger trailers they might be towing. Like a 3/4ton pickup with a huge 5th wheel trailer. Or even Class A/C motorhomes and RVs. These pumps likely have diesel and petrol so even large box trucks will pull in the fuel up. There are usually different areas for full tractor-trailer (lorries) but those pumps are for those trucks only. Further, the gap is three vehicles wide so a vehicle can be on a pump on either side and someone arriving or leaving can fit between them- especially if there is a case of 3 pumps in a row.
Pizza for breakfast? Judging by the picture and the title, this looks like actual Breakfast Pizza. Eggs, sausage, etc are the toppings. Had this a lot growing up just at home. And pizza style is common “grab and go” type food from gas stations since it’s easy to eat, even while driving.
Now, a cola with/for breakfast…naah. I’m with you there. That’s a bit off. But otherwise, the size is normal for a truck stop. Fountain drinks are a lot cheaper than canned or bottled of the same drink. For example 24oz bottle for $2-3 or a 48-64oz fountain for the same price or less. People are traveling when they come through here, or stopping by to grab stuff on their way to work for the whole day. So the idea is the drink is to have on hand for hours if not most of the day. The styrofoam cups are junk but a lot of people transfer to a more practical container, or some stations chains would sell their own fancy insulated cups and allow discounted refills in their cup.
How is this so cheap? Gas station food, man! Doesn’t mean it’s any good! I just covered the soda portion for pricing and a slice of pizza (breakfast or normal pepperoni) is usually only like $2. So the pricing advertised here makes sense.
Midwest is a kind of marketing thing with many layers or points. The midwest region of the States is the massive, wide-open middle section where there’s usually cattle ranching, farming and a lot of nothing. So this can be spun in a lot of ways- farmers/ranchers allegedly eat big (unhealthy) food and drinks, the midwest is big, things are cheap because nothing and no one is out there, etc. Also this gas station is likely located in the midwest and targeted towards people that are traveling through, so it’s got that “tourist” hook to it.
I think that about covers it?
The gas station is Casey's, I'd recognize their breakfast pizza anywhere. It's the best I've ever had.
How... many... different... breakfast pizzas did you have so far?
IDK about a dozen ish
There are a few bits wrong here. First off, the Midwest is not simply a massive wide open cattle ranching area with little else around. That’s really the Great Plains area, which is partially in the Midwest but also partially in the West and Southwest. The Midwest is not mostly made up of ranchers or farmers. There are definitely some in various parts, but other parts have none at all.
Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota are all part of the Midwest, and your summary doesn’t really describe them well at all. I think you may be doing what I see a lot of coastal Americans do which is to confuse the Midwest with the West or the Southwest because the names are much less intuitive than they seem. These terms rose to prominence in the 19th century before “manifest destiny” colonized the entire continent, so they’re all incredibly East coast-centric. The Midwest is in the mideast, the South is in the southeast, the Southwest is in the south, and the West is the whole western half of the country.
And while cola for breakfast might seem a bit off even to most Americans, it’s not at all uncommon in the Midwest, but what’s weird is that it’s Pepsi in this ad because almost all prefer coke in the Midwest. When I moved out of the Midwest, it took me a while to break the disgusting coke for breakfast habit, but it definitely rings true to me to be characteristic of a Midwest breakfast.
Also, this looks like a regular sized gas station anywhere in the central US. It’s definitely not an area for truckers to fill up their big rigs because there is clearly unleaded at those pumps.
And to back it all up, here is the location map for Casey’s (that made this ad) where it’s clear that they are mostly in the Midwest states I mentioned as well as the Great Plains Midwest states of the Dakotas, Nebraska, and Kansas.
Yeah, makes sense.
However, where I live everything at gas stations is really expensive (like 3 times the super market price), because they don't make a lot of profit with gasoline. Most of their profits likely come from car services and selling stuff 24/7. I don't know how it's in the states, but most shops here open at 7-8am and close at 7-8pm and are closed on sundays, so if you need something late at night or on sun-/holidays you drive to the gas station.
Tbh, the only things I ever buy there when every shop is closed are alcohol and tabacco (and some times paper and filters for weed)
There's been some brilliant competition in the US by some gas station chains to raise the bar for quality and lower prices inside the convenience stores, to the point where some regional chains have become part of the regional identity as they're actually worth stopping into
Buc-ees (a Texas gas station chain) has been expanding beyond Texas recently. I've driven all over the US and have never seen anything quite like them anywhere else. The gas is cheap, they have their worker salaries posted (and are way above what other similar places pay), they're incredibly clean, their bathrooms are huge and immaculate, they have restaurant quality food, halfway decent barbecue, a whole home goods/apparel section, a huge variety of snacks, and a load of merchandise (from rocking chairs to roto molded coolers to huge grills and smokers).
It is part of the state identity. With the expansion I bet it will become part of the southeastern regional identity. And if you're near one it's worth stopping at.
Yeah, people seem to think Wawa is the best thing ever. One opened near here and people were acting like it was the second coming.
Midwest is much more corn and bean farming, not cattle ranching. That's more west rather than Midwest. There's some dairy farms, but those are more north usually.