Fast Food Advertising seems to be the subject of a number of news articles today. The LA Times Business section kicks it off with an interesting piece about how Carls Jr. has “sexed” up their advertising. The talk about a recent spot (YouTube link) that features the former Mrs. Salman Rushdie (better known as Padma Lakshmi) sitting on a brownstone stoop in a clingy sundress hiked up mid-thigh, cramming a giant burger into her educated maw and sucking barbecue sauce from her fingers and wrists. These come from the same agency that created the 2005 commercial with a nearly naked Paris Hilton lathering up a Bentley, and who directed the 2007 campaign for Carl’s Jr. flat-bun burgers, featuring a hip-hop duo serenading their high school teacher’s flat butt.
Speaking of butts, Burger King has brought out the creepy King to sell kids meals with ads aimed at adults. In an ad called “Spongebob Burger King” (YouTube link), the music is all about how the King likes square butts. Avert your eyes — it’s as bad as the Burger King Cologne. Burger King has also insulted Mexico with their ad, running in Europe, that uses the image of a small wrestler dressed in a Mexican flag (YouTube link). The wrestler teams up with a lanky American cowboy almost twice his height to illustrate the cross-border blend of flavors. Mexico’s ambassador to Spain said Monday he has written a letter to Burger King’s offices in that nation objecting to the ad and asking that it be removed. Jorge Zermeno told Radio Formula that the ads “improperly use the stereotyped image of a Mexican,” the Associated Press reports.
It really makes one appreciate the cleverness of Jack in the Box (which has a new logo). They’ve always had clever commercials (and yes, I remember Rodney Allen Rippy), and their latest, with the little cowboys, is quite cute (YouTube link).
