The agency that gave us bikini-clad Audrina Patridge lounging on a beach with a Teriyaki Six Dollar Burger, Kim Kardashian in her bathtub eating a salad and Padma Lakshmi’s erotic moment with a Bacon Western Thickburger now will have to eat its lunch all by itself, in the words of the Eagles song. Mendelsohn Zien has been relieved of the Carl’s Jr./Hardee’s advertising assignment.
In its place, the chains’ parent, CKE Restaurants, and its new owner, private-equity firm Apollo Management, have hired David & Goliath in El Segundo, Calif., the small agency whose clients include Kia Motors. The account, valued by CKE at $100 million was put up for review in October. According to the report in Advertising Age, finalists included 72andSunny, Los Angeles, which continues as digital agency of record; Carmichael Lynch in Minneapolis and GSD&M Idea City, Austin, Texas. Deutsch, Los Angeles, was invited but declined to participate.
CKE VP-Marketing Brad Haley told AdAge that David & Goliath “presented a fresh new way to portray Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s” but still “retained the edginess and risk-taking that we have become famous for over the years.” Mendelsohn Zien’s edginess was exemplified by last year’s clever series of commercials for the Big Carl burger that thumbed a nose at McDonald’s Big Mac.
Still under review is Sonic’s ad account, valued at more than roughly $150 million. Adweek reported finalists as Cramer-Krasselt, Chicago; Goodby Silverstein + Partners, San Francisco; and Publicis, Dallas. The winner succeeds 17-year incumbent Barkley, Kansas City, Mo. Zenith Media was tapped for media-buying chores.
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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
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