Carl's Jr. Goes Big
for Breakfast
By Kenneth Hein
BrandWeek
July 23, 2008
CKE Restaurants continues to live up to its reputation of
serving up "food porn" (as The Center for Science in the Public
Interest,
This week, Carl's Jr. introduced its "Monster Breakfast
Sandwich." Between two pieces of sourdough bread sit two eggs, two pieces
of bacon, a sausage patty and cheese. Ads, via Mendelsohn/Zien
Advertising,
The new product, which retails for $2.89, joins Carl's Jr.
"Breakfast Burger" as a filling, inexpensive option. The introduction
comes after sibling chain Hardee's successful October
launch of the 920-calorie "Country Breakfast Burrito."
CKE has been unapologetic about its calorie-filled burgers
and often sex-filled ads. While CSPI figuratively made the porn analogy to its
food, watchdogs have made the literal assessment of its steamy ads—most
notably, its infamous Paris Hilton spot.
The Monster Breakfast Sandwich ads, which are decidedly less
racy, depict customers ordering tiny breakfast portions at various types of
restaurants. "You wouldn't eat like this in a restaurant. Why do it in a fast food place?" says the voiceover.
"As we looked for compelling ways to make Carl's Jr.
breakfast menu stand out from the crowd, our consumer research revealed that
many people felt that the typical fast food breakfast items really didn't fill
them up, so much so that they often ordered two sandwiches to get enough
food," said Brad Haley, evp-marketing for Carl's
Jr., Carpinteria, Calif., in a statement. "So we
satisfied that need in a big way." He added that the portion is not unlike
the amount of food a consumer would order at a diner.
The chain's most recent campaign "Fake Restaurant"
broke in May. It recorded actual patrons happily paying up to $20 for a
hamburger that was revealed to be Carl's Jr.'s
"Six Dollar Burger."
Carl's Jr. spent $60 million on media last year (not
including online) and $27 million for the first five months of this year, per
Nielsen Monitor-Plus.
The chain pulled in $1.3 billion in sales last year. This
was up 3.5% over the year prior, per Technomic,
Chicago.
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