httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ocx016XavNA Barely three months after Apollo Management completed its acquisition of CKE Restaurants, the Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s advertising accounts—with combined 2009 ad spending of $58 million—are being reviewed, Advertising Age reported today.
The departures of key executives at incumbent agency Mendelsohn Zien, Los Angeles, also may have been a factor, Ad Age reports. Mendelsohn Zien—famous among young men for its 2005 Carl’s Jr. commercial with Paris Hilton washing a car by way of introducing the Spicy BBQ Burger—is taking part in the review. According to Ad Age, other agencies involved are 72andSunny, Los Angeles, which handles digital advertising for both chains, and David & Goliath in El Segundo, Calif. The small shop is best known for its work for Korean automaker Kia. Deutsch’s Los Angeles office was invited to participate but declined. Brad Haley is CKE’s executive vice president of marketing.
httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6ydfLFaXBQ While sharing an agency, Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s have seen very different results. For CKE’s second fiscal quarter ended Aug. 9, 2010, Carl’s Jr. same-store sales were down 7.4%; Hardee’s were up 6.8%. Year to date (two quarters), Carl’s Jr. is off 6.6% while Hardee’s shows a 2.2% improvement.
Mendelsohn Zien’s work for both chains has most famously involved “babe and burger” commercials, including recent spots with Audrina Patridge in a bikini eating a burger at the beach and Kim Kardashian eating salad in her bathtub. Hardee’s current campaign (above) features swimsuit model Julie Henderson biting into the new Texas Toast Bacon Cheese Thickburger. More clever have been Mendelsohn Zien’s bold jabs at burger rival McDonald’s through TV spots for items such as the Big Carl (at left), a double burger introduced in January 2010 to lure Big Mac fans.
Can't keep track of all the new menu additions? Check the 
The May Burger of the Month at R.J. Grunts in Chicago is the Chihuahua Burger. That's a ground chuck and sirloin patty topped with Chihuahua cheese, jalapeño cabbage slaw, pickled red onion, cilantro, and Cholula garlic aïoli. To see the full list of May's best Burgers of the Month around the country, click
There was a time, several years past, that when you purchased a Carl’s Jr., Burger, it looked like the ads’ presentation. Perhaps those days are long-gone.
Being a die-hard fan of Carl’s Jr.’s food for perhaps 20 years, I am very disappointed in both the service I received and the quality of their burgers. Twice in 1 week, my wife and I used the pick-up window to purchase a meal, then later became totally disappointed when we found our burger-type was not what we ordered, and the quality was horrible. The burger-meat was much smaller than the bun, and they were beyond over-cooked.
Our last effort was our attempt to get the Southern 6 Dollar Burger, hoping to get a burger that would keep us coming back. Again, a total disappointment. If I weren’t so hungry at the time, I would have photographed the pathetic excuse for a burger, and posted it along-side one of the advertised burgers. What you see on the adds and what you get are not even close.
I do realize that times are hard, yet I also do not think that bad economic times are an excuse for a large burger chain such as Carl’s Jr to take it out on their customers. Where is “Undercover Boss” when you need them!!!