Popularity of Grilled Cheese Bacon Burgers at Carl’s Jr.

Leads to Introduction at Hardee’s

ST. LOUIS, Mo. – February 22, 2010 – Everyone could use a little more comfort these days. And just like when mom used to make her delicious grilled cheese sandwiches to ease your childhood setbacks, Carl’s Jr.^® and Hardee’s^® are offering some comfort food for grown-ups. Grilled Cheese Bacon Burgers, launched at Carl’s Jr. in late January, feature all of the taste and comfort deliciousness of those youthful grilled cheese sandwiches, but with the addition of a delicious charbroiled burger and bacon. This combination of two all-American classics has resonated so well with guests in Carl’s Jr. markets, that the Grilled Cheese Bacon Thickburger^® is being introduced into sister-chain Hardee’s markets beginning today.

“The Grilled Cheese Bacon Burgers evolved from our efforts to make a really good grilled cheese sandwich for our vegetarian customers,” said Brad Haley, executive vice president of marketing at CKE Restaurants. “Being known for our decadent burgers, we just had to see how it tasted with a charbroiled burger and bacon on it, and the result was really, really yummy.   With all the dismal economic news today, it may be that this combination of two classic, all-American comfort foods just seems to hit the spot right now.”

“The Comfort Place”

To extend the comforting goodness of the Grilled Cheese Bacon Burgers, both Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. are embarking on a digital campaign to provide even more solace to their customers, especially their core fans of “Young, Hungry guys.” Because guys need comfort, too, starting today, visitors to the Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s Facebook pages can visit the new interactive application designed to provide a bit of comfort when they need it the most.

Fans can choose to comfort themselves or a friend when activating “The Comfort Place,” an application which will post comforting messages to the designated Facebook wall for a 24-hour period. Comfort comes in the form of cheesy songs (“Love Sandwich”), words of wisdom and motivational pep talks (“You smell incredible right now. Just incredible.”), audio sound bytes (sounds of bacon sizzling), soothing photos (frolicking kittens) and humorous videos (levitating “Burguru”). Users can also invite friends to gather at their local Carl’s Jr. or Hardee’s for a Comfort Session where they can take full advantage of their access to exclusive rewards and discounts on the Grilled Cheese Bacon Burgers.   

Comfort Sweepstakes

Additionally, today also launches a 5-week sweepstakes on each brand’s respective Facebook page. Each page will give away two (2) Comfort Packages a week, ending on March 26^th. The Comfort Package consists of a Happy Star™ branded Slanket^®, comfortable slippers, a universal remote, a Carl’s Jr. or Hardee’s gift card and a shiatsu electronic massager. One entry per fan. Contest rules are available on the Sweepstakes tab at www.facebook.com/carlsjr and www.facebook.com/hardees.

“The ‘Comfort Place’ Facebook application and sweepstakes are another way we are reaching out to our customers online,” said Brad Rosenberg, Manager of Digital Strategy and Marketing at CKE Restaurants. ”We don’t want to just broadcast messages. We aim to interact, provide fun, sharable content, and offer our fans exclusive deals and sweepstakes that they won’t find anywhere else.”

The Grilled Cheese Bacon Thickburgers feature a charbroiled 100% Black Angus beef patty, crispy bacon and four slices of melted American and Swiss cheeses on grilled sourdough bread. It is available at Hardee’s in Little Thickburger, Original Thickburger, or Six Dollar Thickburger sizes, with a starting price of $2.79. Prices may vary by location.

Commercials supporting the Grilled Cheese Bacon Thickburger will begin airing in Hardee’s markets on March 1. The entertaining ads were created by Los Angeles-based advertising agency, Mendelsohn|Zien, the agency behind many iconic ads for Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s. They can be viewed on both brands’ YouTube channels (www.youtube.com/carlsjr and www.youtube.com/hardees). Fans can also access the chains’ sometimes-cheesy status updates via Twitter at www.twitter.com/carlsjr and www.twitter.com/hardees.

About CKE Restaurants, Inc.

Headquartered in Carpinteria, Calif., CKE Restaurants, Inc. is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “CKR.” As of the end of its fiscal 2010 third quarter, CKE Restaurants, Inc., through its subsidiaries, had a total of 3,147 franchised, licensed or company-operated restaurants in 42 states and in 14 countries, including 1,221 Carl's Jr. restaurants and 1,913 Hardee's restaurants. For more information about CKE Restaurants, please visit www.ckr.com.   

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By Nancy Luna, Staff Writer and Blogger

The Los Angeles ad agency behind the sexy Carl's Jr. ads are now focusing on reality TV-inspired commercials.

The latest Carl's Jr. and Hardee's ad features a super fake out of customers dining at a faux Los Angeles fine dining restaurant. Unbeknownst to diners: they are chowing on Six Dollar fast-food burgers from Carl's Jr. -- not "fancy" gourmet burgers.

I just watched the aptly named "Fake Restaurant" commercial -- and it is another elaborate undertaking by Mendelsohn Zien. The Los Angeles ad firm is the mastermind behind Carl's Jr.'s sexy, messy, drippy ads. (Think, the sultry and sudsy "That's Hot" Paris Hilton commercial or the controversial Flat Buns ad.)

For this ad, the agency, created a fake white table cloth restaurant in Malibu complete with chic decor, a stone fireplace, glass stemware and valet parking. The restaurant even had "phony" reviews on display.

The experiment: Could the Six Dollar Carl's Jr./Hardee's Angus burger pass for fine dining eats -- and prices? Menu prices ranged from $14 to $20 -- more than triple the price of a regular fast-food Angus burger sold at Carl's Jr. or Hardee's.

Using hidden cameras, the commercial captures a pair of diners walking into "Grade A Restaurant" in the Malibu hills.

One of the diners is an accomplice hired by FriedFish Productions, a Los Angeles film company that specializes in reality TV productions.Carl's Jr. new ad campaign promotes a new Prime Rib Six Dollar Burger, which debuts next month in SoCal.

The paid accomplice lures a friend, dubbed "the mark," to this new "boutique" burger restaurant. Menu choices are limited to a Prime Rib burger (at right) and four varieties of gourmet Angus burgers, the server tells the diners.

In every case, the unsuspecting "mark" gives the burgers rave reviews.

The expression -- "reality is better than fiction" -- plays out well in this campaign. Carl's Jr. could not have asked for better, scripted reactions from the faked-out diners:

"Do you see this burger dude? It's colossal," one man says.

"This is a tasty burger," says another.

"It's like an orgasm," one diner says after eating a $14 Prime Rib Six Dollar burger. (That burger, by the way, is the reason for the new ad campaign. Hardee's is now serving the prime rib burger, while Carl's Jr. restaurants will get it next month.)

Beth Mansfield, a Carl's Jr. spokeswoman, said the diners were "absolutely" in the dark until the end of the meal when they paid the check. Once they were told they were part of reality TV commercial, the customers signed deals with the fast-food chain to have their mugs used for the ad. (The "real people" featured in the commercial are shown in the above photo.)

Let's hope the ad campaign works: CKE Restaurants, the parent company of Carl's Jr. and Hardee's, spent $1.5 million making the commercial. To boot, the chain will spend $20 million airing the ad nationally for the next 12 months.

So, does this reality TV show campaign mean Carl's Jr. is scrapping its edgy/sexy ads?

"We didn't say that," Mansfield chuckles.

To view the commercial, go to fakerestaurant.com or click on the above photo.

http://fastfood.freedomblogging.com/2008/05/20/no-more-sultry-ads-carls-jr-turns-to-reality-tv-for-new-campaign/