CKE Restaurants hires new ad agencyCKE Restaurants hires new ad agency

Lisa Jennings

CKE Restaurants Inc., parent company to the Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s quick-service chains, has switched advertising agencies.

Citing concern about the recent direction of advertising under Los Angeles-based agency David&Goliath, Carpinteria, Calif.-based CKE has shifted creative duties to 72andSunny, another Los Angeles-based firm that has also served as the company’s digital agency of record since June 2009. Last year, 72andSunny also participated in CKE’s creative agency pitch.

“We would like to thank David&Goliath for their hard work and dedication over the past year,” Brad Haley, CKE chief marketing officer, said in a statement. “They are a great group of people, but we became concerned about the recent direction of the advertising and determined that we needed to make a change.”

Haley also noted that 72andSunny hired the former Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s creative team of Mick DiMaria and Justin Hooper, who came from Mendelsohn/Zien, the agency CKE worked with in 2010.

“Mick and Justin were behind some of our most iconic ads while at Mendelsohn/Zien, so the team at 72andSunny clearly knows our brands, and our brand attitude, very well.”

DiMaria and Hooper were creative directors behind certain memorable ads in CKE’s ongoing appeal to hungry young men with marketing campaigns involving curvaceous and often scantily dressed women.

For example, the duo developed commercials involving actress Audrina Patridge wearing a gold lamé bikini, as well as racy ads featuring reality TV stars Kim Kardashian and Padma Lakshmi.

Watch the commercial featuring Kim Kardashian; story continues below

While David&Goliath was behind other provocative ads — including commercials earlier this year featuring beauty contestant Miss Turkey in a bikini eating turkey burgers — CKE officials said they hoped the recent ad switch would result in commercials that are more memorable and distinctive.

“Since we have a smaller ad budget than most other national burger chains, our ads have to stand out and be instantly recognizable,” said Beth Mansfield, CKE director of public relations.

Contact Lisa Jennings at [email protected].
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