After nearly a decade of advertisements focused on big-breasted models romantically eating hamburgers – if there is such a way of eating hamburgers – Carl’s Jr./Hardee’s has decided to take their marketing campaign in a new direction.

In the new campaign, one that pokes fun at their old campaign, Carl Hardee Sr. returns to find that his hedonistic son has turned the burger company into a frat house – presumably, he is also behind the sexy burger ads. With pictures of models hanging around the office, the senior Hardee replaces them with pictures of burgers and gives his son a history lesson about the company he started.

No longer in charge, Carl Hardee Jr. follows his father around apologetically, while Hardee Sr. lectures his son about good quality food and service.

The new ad comes at a time of general change for Carl’s Jr./Hardee’s parent company, CKE Restaurant Holdings. CEO Andy Puzder, who removed his name from consideration as President Donald Trump‘s nominee for Labor Secretary after he faced allegations of domestic abuse, treating Carl’s Jr./Hardee’s workers poorly, and hiring an undocumented immigrant as a housekeeper, is now planning to retire. Jason Maker, who was most recently in charge of KFC, will take over as CEO.

Along with the change in CEO, comes a change in the logo. While Carl’s Jr./Hardee’s both had a star with a smiling face inside of it, the face has now been removed, giving the logo a sleeker, more modern look.

CKE claims that these changes are being made in the hopes of reaching a larger demographic. The old branding was targeted towards what CKE called, the “hungry young guy,” a demographic that, beyond the obvious, frequented fast-food restaurants. Their new targeted demographic is a group that may not necessarily frequent fast-food restaurants but is instead seeking out convenience and quality.

Long before Puzder’s public image suffered, CKE was having a difficult 2016. Last year, they experienced their worst quarterly performance in the past five years. Their rebranding is part of a larger effort to bring up their numbers.

 

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Article by Jacob Kaye

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