Action Alert

UPC Internet Campaign Gets Carl's Jr. to Drop Lewd Commercial

“The ad is no longer in circulation.” – Larry Brayman, CKE Restaurants, February 11, 2002

The Carl's Jr. "nuggets" ad that aired in California in January and part of February is off the air, according to CKE Restaurants, the parent company of Carl's Jr., a fast food franchise in CA. The ad showed a group of men dressed as scientists examining a live chicken, looking for her "nuggets." One of them took off his glove and said, "They're not here either," implying an anal search for nuggets.

A Los Angeles Times article about UPC's campaign to get rid of the ad ("What if someone Went Looking for Your Nuggets?") by Dana Parsons, January quoted UPC President Karen Davis, "When someone's poking around your body and sniffing around, looking under your tail, wing and treating this bird's body derisively . . . that's our objection."

CKE Restaurants said the ad targeted their "mots frequent customers... the young male audience."

To express your views concerning such advertising, contact:

• Robert Wisely, Executive Vice President
  CKE Restaurants, Inc.
  401 West Carl Karcher Way
  PO Box 4349
  Anaheim, CA 92803-4349
  Email: eluke@ckr.com
  Toll-free to Robert Wisely: 800-422-4141, ext. 1232
  Toll-free to Carl's Jr.: 800-758-2275
  
  
• Larry Brayman, Director of Corporate Affairs
  CKE Restaurants
  505 North 7th Street, Suite 3610
  St. Louis, MO 63101
  Ph: 314-259-6223
  
  
• Richard Zien, CEO
  Mendelsohns/Zien Advertising Agency
  11111 Santa Monica Blvd, Suite 2100
  Los Angeles, CA 90025
  Ph: 310-444-1990
  Fax: 310-444-9698
  Email: rzien@mzad.com