May 27, 2007 7:18 AM

Another DUMB@$$ AWARD wiener

Jack in the Box Ads Called Misleading: Competitor Sues Jack in the Box Over TV Spots Mocking Burger Meat

DUMB@$$ AWARD wiener #589: Andrew F. Puzder

The parent company of the Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s fast food chains sued rival Jack In The Box Inc. on Friday to stop TV ads that it says suggest Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s use cow anus to make Angus beef hamburgers. CKE Restaurants Inc. sued Jack In The Box in U.S. District Court on Friday over an ad in which executives laugh hysterically at the word “Angus” and another where the chain’s pingpong ball-headed mascot, Jack, is asked to point to a diagram of a cow and show where Angus meat comes from. “I’d rather not,” the pointy-nosed Jack replies. The employee asking the question traces a circle in the air with his pen while pronouncing the word Angus.

I’ve always loved Jack In The Box commercials. I don’t eat beef, and I rarely eat at jack In The Box, but I admire creativity and humor in advertising- if only because they’re such rare commodities. When compared to the usual collection of singing toilets or dancers extolling the relief of Pepto-Bismol, at least Jack In The Box ads are unique and well-conceived…and they generally don’t insult the viewer’s intelligence. Over the years, the folks who write the ads have clearly had a laugh or two at a number of people’s expense, generally in good fun. It’s unfortunate that some folks don’t seem to see the humor- to the point where they feel the need to trot out their lawyers.

You’d think that companies like CKE would fight fire with fire. After all, it would be cheaper than playing Duelling Lawyers, and it would sure be a helluva lot more entertaining. Who knows, they might even manage to sell a few hamburgers along the way.

Methinks CKE chief executive needs to lighten up just a wee bit, perhaps??

CKE claims the ads create the misleading impression that Jack In The Box’s new 100 percent sirloin burgers use a better quality of meat than the Angus beef used by Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s. CKE claims the spots confuse consumers by comparing sirloin, a cut of meat found on all cattle, with Angus, which is a breed of cattle….

CKE is known for running controversial ads for its chains, including one featuring a scantily clad Paris Hilton washing a car while eating a burger. But CKE claims the Jack In the Box ads go too far.

“They’re not being funny,” CKE chief executive Andrew F. Puzder said Friday. “They need to stop misleading people about what Angus beef is.”

Puzder said that the company asked Jack In the Box to drop the ads, but that the chain refused and pointed to a Carl’s Jr. TV spot suggesting Carl’s Jr. milk shakes were superior to those served by competitors.

Puzder said the comparison was not valid because the Carl’s Jr. ads did not suggest that Jack In the Box shakes were made from milk that came from an unsavory part of the cow.

I suppose that in a case like this any publicity is good publicity, and it’s not like Puzder’s having to pay the going advertising rates for news stories like this. Still, what’s so wrong with trying to sell a product with a dollop of humor? If Puzder truly thinks that Jack-in-the-Box is “misleading people about what Angus beef is”, he’s got bigger problems than just Jack In The Box. Yes, if his target market puts two and two together and comes up with seven by somehow gleaning from the commercial that “Angus beef” is actually made from cow anuses…well, then they’ll buy just about anything, won’t they?

Appaprently, Puzder’s worried that, since his target market’s collective IQ hovers in the low double-digits, they’ll take the Jack-in-the-Box commercial as Gospel. Man, talk about the death of irony….

Welcome to DUMB@$$ Burger. Would you like to supersize your Anus Combo??

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This page contains a single entry by Jack Cluth published on May 27, 2007 7:18 AM.

The triumph of self-righteous ignorance and reaction was the previous entry in this blog.

Great moments in product placement, #9 is the next entry in this blog.

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