Carl’s, Jr. does some seriously interesting marketing.
They’ve been getting my attention for months with innovative packaging around their news and announcements. Take the one that came today.
It’s a pineapple.
That’s right – a fresh from the plantation pineapple, with the full aroma of a fruit that has been contained in a brown box for several days of shipping. Attached to the pineapple with coral ribbon (color deliberately chosen by some high paid marketing person, I’m sure) were two marketing pieces. One, a mock postcard with a bikini-clad Audrina. Dot the ‘I’ in her name with a heart and you get the basic picture. Her message says, ‘Having a delicious summer with the Carl’s Jr. Teriyaki Burger. Wish you were here.’
The second piece is a burger-shaped coupon for a free Teriyaki burger, so I can apparently go get a burger with grilled Dole pineapple without having to don my own bikini. Whew – that’s a relief.
The company covered all its bases on this one – the use of Audrina (and the bikini) undoubtedly brings them attention, and if I were a man this blog would have a totally different angle. As a woman and a food lover, however, it was definitely the pineapple that excited me.
We get lots of new products sent to us, and announcements of new products, but kudos to Carl’s, Jr. for standing out in the crowd.
If you missed the announcement on this new burger, here’s a write up:
From www.meatingplace.com. Used by permission.
Quick-service restaurant chain Carl’s Jr. is using Audrina Patridge, the star of MTV reality show “The Hills” who also has been honored for her bikini body by the likes of “Access Hollywood,” to promote its Teriyaki Burger.
Carl’s is bringing the Teriyaki Burger back as a permanent menu item. It features a charbroiled beef patty with a teriyaki glaze topped with pineapple, Swiss cheese, lettuce, tomato, red onion and mayo. It is available in a single, double or Six Dollar version for $2.89, $3.89 and $4.69, respectively.
Patridge appears in an ad for the burger created by Los Angeles-based Mendelsohn|Zien eating the burger on a Malibu beach wearing a gold lamé bikini. She also appears in interviews and behind-the-scenes footage on the Carl’s Jr. YouTube channel and Facebook page.
“My one indulgence is the Carl’s Jr. Teriyaki Burger,” Patridge said in a news release. “I seriously crave it.”
Carl’s Jr. and its sister chain Hardee’s, which are both wholly owned subsidiaries of Carpinteria, Calif.-based CKE Restaurants, also are hosting a contest for female consumers to show how they eat the chains’ burgers by posting videos to HotChicksEatingBurgers.com.
