Three Stooges in a Carl’s Jr. Ad? Why, Soitenly!

Advertiser: Carl’s Jr.

Agency: Mendelsohn/Zien, Los Angeles

Challenge: Keep the chain’s ongoing ad campaign interesting and fresh.

The Ads: Four new television ads use black-and-white footage from the 1940s Three Stooges comedy team. Moe, Larry and Curly are shown tossing pies, spraying catsup and squirting soup. At the conclusion of each spot, they’re covered with food. “We didn’t invent messy food,” says an announcer in one of the ads. “We just perfected it.” In another ad, the announcer recites Carl’s slogan: “If it doesn’t get all over the place, it doesn’t belong in your face.” The last shot in each ad is of a messy Carl’s hamburger.

Comment: The Anaheim-based fast-food chain has used shock and questionable taste to pitch its presumably good-tasting burgers. Ads have depicted a prison riot, a trail of blood and a strip-tease. The decades-old slapstick of the Three Stooges provides a welcome break from Carl’s usual ad fare. And, with food flying all over the place, the new ads are on target strategically. The ads appear amid lowered third-quarter earnings expectations for the parent of Carl’s Jr. Analysts said sales at CKE Restaurants Inc. in the Southeast and Gulf regions were hurt by hurricanes. $$$

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Ads are rated from $ to $$$$, based on tastefulness and probable effectiveness, with $$$$ being highest.