Carl's Jr. tries "sexy burger eating" strategy with a male subject

Can you spot the differences between this ad, starring reality TV "daredevil" Bryan Spangler, and the burger chain's more typical ads?



Hint: He's fully dressed. But that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Does Mr. Spangler present himself to the viewer as a sexual object? Not really. He looks skeptically at he burger, eats it, then reclines manfully on his car as if he's getting a BJ.

**rolls eyes**

H/T eater.com

Why is Hooters going after Chipotle?

Arby's talking trash about Subway I can understand. They're both fast food. But why is Hooters — a sit-down, full-service bar and restaurant — comparing itself to Chipotle?



The new campaign, by Skiver Advertising, doesn't have much more to it than the gross-out burrito scene. The rest is just typical chain restaurant product shots (and by "product" I mean both food and branded waitstaff) with happy mixed groups of target audience having conspicuous fun.

As Eater summarizes:

The burrito place is gray, dirty, and full of disgusting, gloppy food; Hooters, on the other hand, features servers that are literally beaming sunshine from behind their Farrah Fawcett-waves, and there are lots of boobs. And also salads, you know, for the ladies.

Why even bother? It's like The Olive Garden saying that it's more like a restaurant than McDonald's. So what? Totally different categories. Plus, in the realm of ethical restaurants, Chipotle rules while Hooters drools.

The other ad, which seems of lower production quality, compares hooters to a sports bar full of overenthusiastic (and, I can't help but note, overweight) fans.



I thought Hooters was a sports bar. I guess the implication is Hooters is for thinner people. #stepintoawesome indeed...

Tip via Adfreak

Boston restaurant wages all-out Facebook war on unhappy customer

From the Facebook page of Boston's Pigalle restaurant:

According to Eater, this was the initial response on Facebook (now deleted)

Interesting social media approach. But it continues:

This exchange, at least, is hidden in the "post by others" view of Pigalle's Facebook page. But then "Marc , the dishwasher" goes and posts about it, to ensure that it goes out to the followers:

 And my favourite response:

Unbelievable. As I mentioned to my wife when I heard of an even worse case of restaurant revenge here in Ottawa, if they have this much contempt for their customers, imagine what goes on in that kitchen?

According to their page, Pigalle is owned by Executive Chef Marc Orfaly and General Manager Kerri Foley, and it was voted "Best Romantic Restaurant".

UPDATE: All relevant FB posts have since been removed by Pigalle.

UPDATE 2: The Apology

Woman bites into something that oozes goo, gets a marriage proposal

No, really. That's what happens:



Found on Eater, this is an ad for Pizza Hut Malaysia's "Super Pan Pizza."

Eater also reports that the pizza's toppings include chicken chunks, chicken loaf, caramelized pineapples and peppers, two different sauces, cheese and something called "Garlic Napoli."

Two more reasons for women to hate Hooters

AdAge reports that breastaurant chain Hooters is "executing a three- to five-year plan to revitalize the brand, and part of that plan is to appeal to a broader, younger audience that includes women."

Bafflingly, they are launching this appeal with ads directed by Eastbound & Down writer/director Jody Hill, placed on male-oriented TV programming, that... make fun of older women's bodies?



The campaign, by Fitzgerald & Co., introduces two goofy owl finger puppets that do the "angel/devil" dichotomy of human nature thing.



Sort of.

I'm still not seeing the appeal to women. Perhaps that's another part of the strategy, the one where they're adding about 30 new salads to the menu. Although, as Eater pointed out: "Maybe all those ladies out there who really like salads and also looking at boobs while eating salads will be into them?"

Here's a totally unnecessary behind-the-scenes vid:

Hooters has a Mother's Day promotion #FdAdFriday

From the Hooters site:

Free Wings for Mom Hooters is showing appreciation to all moms for all that they do to make this world a better place by serving up our signature menu item for free. All day on Sunday, May 13th moms who dine in at Hooters will receive an order of 10 boneless chicken wings tossed in their favorite sauce for free! This Mother’s Day offer is one of many deals that Hooters is giving customers during non-traditional holidays throughout the year. The Mother’s Day free wing offer is good for all ladies who dine in at participating Hooters restaurants. The offer is good on dine in orders only and there is a limit of one order for each mom.

I guess there is something "motherly" about a restaurant chain that is so focussed on maternal organs, but I'm pretty sure that's not the intent.

I did, however, titter when I read Eater's comment about the mention of mom's favourite sauce: "Wow, your mom must go to Hooters a lot if she has a favorite flavor of their wing sauce."

By the way, I was unaware of Hooters' slogan:

"O_O" indeed, Mr. Owl...

"A sexy, female friendly steakhouse" #FdAdFriday

I have no idea what that means.

Maybe I should watch all 60 seconds of the ad:



Nope. Still no idea.

Via Eater

A brand worth dying for?

Branding junk food as bad for you is a common trend these days, but a customer tucking in to a "Double Bypass Burger" coincidentally suffered a heart attack right in the Las Vegas restaurant.



According to Wikipedia,

The establishment is a hospital theme restaurant: waitresses ("nurses") take orders ("prescriptions") from the customers ("patients"). A tag is wrapped on the patient's wrist showing which foods they order and a "doctor" examines the "patients" with a stethoscope. The menu includes "Single", "Double", "Triple", and "Quadruple Bypass" hamburgers,[1] ranging from 8 to 32 ounces (230 to 910 g) of beef (up to about 8,000 calories), all-you-can-eat "Flatliner Fries" (cooked in pure lard), beer and tequila, and soft drinks such as "Jolt" and Mexican-bottled Coca-Cola made with real sugar.[2] Customers over 350 lb (160 kg) in weight eat for free if they weigh in with a doctor or nurse before each burger.

Eater  recognizes the possibility that this was a ("incredibly sad and evil") publicity stunt, and adds that the man is reported to have survived.

Owner "Doctor" Jon Basso told FOX5 he felt ‘horrible’ for the man.

“Tourists were taking photos of him as if it were some type of stunt,” Basso said. “Even with our own morbid sense of humor, we would never pull a stunt like that.”

(He added that there have been a “variety of incidents” at the restaurant, but this was the first full-scale coronary.)

Let's hope the staff get medical training along with their uniforms:

By the way, February is Heart Month.

Hello Hooters #vday

Remember when Burger King and CP+B got in trouble for sexualizing Spongebob Squarepants in a kiddie promotion? Apparently that would have been fine in Japan, where Hooters is Using Hello Kitty in a "sexy" Valentine's Day dessert promotion.

Via Eater

Oh well, I guess that poor cartoon cat has been through worse humiliations.

Engagement pizza comes with a ring, flowers, limo and fireworks*

*horrified girlfriend not included

Eater put me on to this publicity stunt of a Valentine's Day offer by none other than the chain restaurant known colloquially as "Pizza Slut":

Here's a close-up:

I love how the $10 pizza is additional to the $10K in swag. (Including a brand-appropriate red gem in the ring.)

Eater also quotes the press release:

“Would you like a proposal with your order?” Starting today, consumers visiting PizzaHut.com can answer “yes” to that question and purchase the $10 Dinner Box Proposal Package, an epic collection of proposal goodies inspired by the new $10 Dinner Box on the Pizza Hut menu. Pizza Hut is offering only 10 of the exclusive packages just in time for Valentine’s Day at a cost of $10,010 each. The $10 Dinner Box Proposal Package includes a ruby engagement ring, limo service, flowers, fireworks show, photographer, videographer and of course, most importantly, the mouth-watering new $10 Dinner Box. 

Fitting all of these amazing items into one package echoes the feat pulled off inside the new Pizza Hut $10 Dinner Box, which includes a medium one-topping rectangular pan pizza, five breadsticks with marinara sauce and 10 cinnamon sticks with a sweet icing cup in one box for only $10. 

“If we’re able to fit pizza, breadsticks and dessert into one box for only $10, why stop there?” asked Kurt Kane, Pizza Hut CMO. “Our customers want the best of everything, from their food to memorable life experiences. So we decided to make one of those experiences – the marriage proposal – second-to-none and offer it at PizzaHut.com right alongside the new $10 Dinner Box.” 

With only 10 packages being offered at PizzaHut.com, those looking to pop the question in a unique way need to act fast. c. Here’s a closer look inside the $10 Dinner Box Proposal Package. 

Ruby Engagement Ring: a stunning ruby stone flanked by shimmering diamonds
Limo Service: pick up your sweetheart in style before popping the question
Flowers: no proposal is complete without a spectacular bouquet of her favorite flowers
Fireworks: a perfectly-timed fireworks display will vault this proposal into the record books
Photographer: photos taken of the happy couple before, during and after the moment
Videographer: capturing video of the moment she says “yes”
$10 Dinner Box: hands-down the most vital, and appetizing, piece of the package

It's a cute little stunt. Although paying ten grand to help a crappy pizza chain generate PR is probably not the way I would have wanted to start my marriage.

Taco Bell offers the latest in over-the-top stunt eating cuisine

Junk food junkies are always looking for the latest affront to public health. "Baconator? Awesome! Double Down? I'll have two! Gravy Pizza? Bring it on!"

And for those of you who can't help but stunt eat the latest mysterious fad, Eater confirms that the Facebook rumours are true: There really is a Taco Bell taco with a shell made out of Goddamn Doritos cheesy corn chips. But you have to go to California to get it.

As evidence, the LA Times posted this amateur video capture:



Not my cup of sodium, but I'm sure this will cap off many a drunken night for young men in the area.