Carl’s Jr. Ditches Its Models In Massive Rebranding Overhaul

Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s have decided to retire its supermodel-driven ads in favor of a brand new advertising campaign.

Their parent fast food company, CKE Restaurants, officially launched their new brand image and ethos this morning, and even claimed they are the rightful “Pioneers of the Great American Burger.”

The new tagline was featured in their latest commercial that began airing last week, emphasizing quality, innovation, and history. These core values are ones that the company hopes to convey in its rebranding, while taking away the bikini-clad models they had become known for, and focusing on the food instead.

Photo courtesy of CKE Restaurants and Business Wire.

The new campaign, developed by creative ad agency 72andSunny, also features modernized new logos, removing the cartoon-like face from its famous star.

CKE’s chief marketing officer, Brad Haley, said this change came about so that Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s could tell the story of their food in their ads.

“Since premiering our now iconic ad starring Paris Hilton 12 years ago, Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s have become synonymous with two things: bikinis and burgers. While those provocative ads generated a lot of buzz for our brands and were very successful for us, it was very difficult for that kind of an ad to tell a more comprehensive story about the long list of things we do to make better food than anyone else in our space…or better food than most sit-down restaurants make, for that matter.”

To fully illustrate this to its audience, CKE is launching a brand-new extended commercial with two new characters to tell their story. The full ad begins airing on Adult Swim April 1, but you can watch it in the Youtube video below as well.

In the ad, Carl Hardee Sr. returns to take control and restore order into what’s portrayed as a party-style company being run by his son, Carl Jr.

The ad then shifts to tell the story of Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s, from the original charbroil restaurant opened in 1956, to the burgers that grace the restaurant today (with a big emphasis on bacon), and closes by emphasizing how Carl’s has always been a “pioneer” for burger quality and innovation.

It’s a bold rebranding move by CKE Restaurants, but it just might work. It has characters, a story, and a strong message.

Now to see if the consumers respond well to the ads and accept this new image that Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s are trying to cast themselves in.