Or to put it in Junior’s words, “Food, not boobs.”
Remember those ads featuring barely dressed models and celebrities like Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian feasting on a juicy burger? One year ago Carl’s Jr./Hardee’s ditched the frat boy mentality and decided to focus on being the “Pioneer of the Great American Burger.”
If you haven’t seen the commercial that launched the campaign, it’s a must-see. Of course, they couldn’t go from being the provocative brand to boring brand. 😉
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAYWM0iBIC0
They decided it was time to appeal to a larger consumer base that cares more about the food they put in their body, than well…a hot body. Along with the image change they also rolled out an updated logo featured a more stripped down look.
So why did they decide to make the switch? Let’s break it down.
Timing is everything- It was time to evolve. They really made this change at the ideal time with brands such as Dover and Always embracing women’s empowerment. They avoided some nasty PR and sexist’s protesting at their drive thru’s. They also had some negative headlines after Trump picked the CEO of Carl’s Jr. as Labor Secretary. (But let’s not go into politics)
Food, not boobs- Carl’s Jr. spends a large amount of cheddar investing and researching that the best quality food is delivered to their customers. People had forgotten about this because all they thought of when they saw a Carl’s Jr was…boobs. They needed to put the focus back on the product.
It wasn’t working anymore -With the changing composition of their target 18-34 mail demographic, Carl’s Jr. didn’t feel like showing half-naked women were telling the brands story anymore. The ads weren’t driving business like they used to and it was hard to tell a story with boobs.
It looks like the rebrand was a smart move for Carl’s Jr. With revenue at almost $2 BILLION globally, they are up 4% since last year. They are definitely enjoying the rewards of this risky move.