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Carl’s Jr. launches two for $6 dealCarl’s Jr. launches two for $6 deal

The quick-service restaurant chain also reprises teriyaki items

Bret Thorn, Senior Food Editor

June 24, 2024

3 Min Read
carls jr 2 for 6 double take
Carl's Jr. 2 for $6 deal

Carl’s Jr. has launched a $6 value meal a day before McDonald’s own $5 Meal Deal is slated to go into effect.

Carl’s 2 for $6 Double Take offers customers a choice of any two of the following: French Toast Dips, small Hash Rounds, a Spicy Chicken Sandwich, a six-piece order of Chicken Stars, a small order of fries, a small cheeseburger, or a Spicy Lil’ Cheeseburger.

The chain of more than 1,000 restaurants, part of CKE Restaurant Holdings, based in Franklin, Tenn., which also owns the Hardee’s concept, is also bringing back its Double Teriyaki Burger and Teriyaki Char Chicken sandwich.

Both the sandwiches and the two-for-six deal will be available through Aug. 13

The burger is made with two beef patties, sliced grilled pineapple, melted Swiss cheese, onions, tomatoes, lettuce, mayonnaise, and teriyaki sauce on a seeded bun.

The chicken sandwich is the same build, but with a broiled chicken breast replacing the burger patties.

The burger is also available as a single, starting at $6.99. The double starts at $8.49, as does the chicken sandwich, but pricing will vary based on location as Carl’s Jr. is mostly franchised.

“Carl’s Jr. guests are extremely passionate, whether it’s about bringing back the El Diablo burger, bringing back the Teriyaki lineup or delivering the flavors they crave on a budget,” Carl’s Jr. vice president of marketing Anthony Nguyen said in a press release announcing the new deal and the return of the teriyaki sandwiches. “We’re excited to give the people what they want — big, bold, innovative flavors at every price point that will keep them coming back for more.”

Related:Carl’s Jr. to give free burgers to loyalty program members on Feb. 12

The El Diablo Burger — two beef patties, two strips of bacon, jalapeño poppers, pepper Jack cheese, jalapeño pepper coins, and habanero ranch sauce on a bun — was brought back as a permanent item in April, starting at $8.99

The Double Teriyaki Burger is being promoted as part of a new marketing campaign with the theme “Need Burger, Get Burger.” This particular commercial depicts a customer in a car-repair shop with burgers on his mind; he drives his car off of the vehicle lift on which it’s being serviced when he mis-hears “bumper” as “burger,” badly damaging his car, but satisfying his craving for the new item.

This sort of off-the-wall marketing began earlier this year whenCarl’s Jr. gave away burgers on the Monday after the Super Bowl, and ran commercials falsely anticipating the chaos that would ensue.

The irreverent brand positioning is part of an effort by CKE chief marketing officer Jennifer Tate to separate Carl’s Jr. from its more staid sibling, Hardee’s.

Related:CKE Restaurants chief marketing officer Jennifer Tate wins big with Carl’s Jr. burger giveaway

Unlike Carl’s Jr., which operates primarily in the West, Hardee’s restaurants are mostly in the Midwest and Southeast and its brand positioning is more about wholesomeness and scratch cooking.

The two chains, which have been part of CKE since that company bought Hardee’s in 1997, have had an on again, off again, sort of relationship, with the parent company sometimes trying to merge the two brands and at other times separating them.

The latter is currently in effect.

 

 Contact Bret Thorn at [email protected] 

 

 

About the Author

Bret Thorn

Senior Food Editor, Nation's Restaurant News

Senior Food & Beverage Editor

Bret Thorn is senior food & beverage editor for Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality for Informa’s Restaurants and Food Group, with responsibility for spotting and reporting on food and beverage trends across the country for both publications as well as guiding overall F&B coverage. 

He is the host of a podcast, In the Kitchen with Bret Thorn, which features interviews with chefs, food & beverage authorities and other experts in foodservice operations.

From 2005 to 2008 he also wrote the Kitchen Dish column for The New York Sun, covering restaurant openings and chefs’ career moves in New York City.

He joined Nation’s Restaurant News in 1999 after spending about five years in Thailand, where he wrote articles about business, banking and finance as well as restaurant reviews and food columns for Manager magazine and Asia Times newspaper. He joined Restaurant Hospitality’s staff in 2016 while retaining his position at NRN. 

A magna cum laude graduate of Tufts University in Medford, Mass., with a bachelor’s degree in history, and a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Thorn also studied traditional French cooking at Le Cordon Bleu Ecole de Cuisine in Paris. He spent his junior year of college in China, studying Chinese language, history and culture for a semester each at Nanjing University and Beijing University. While in Beijing, he also worked for ABC News during the protests and ultimate crackdown in and around Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Thorn’s monthly column in Nation’s Restaurant News won the 2006 Jesse H. Neal National Business Journalism Award for best staff-written editorial or opinion column.

He served as president of the International Foodservice Editorial Council, or IFEC, in 2005.

Thorn wrote the entry on comfort food in the Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America, 2nd edition, published in 2012. He also wrote a history of plated desserts for the Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets, published in 2015.

He was inducted into the Disciples d’Escoffier in 2014.

A Colorado native originally from Denver, Thorn lives in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Bret Thorn’s areas of expertise include food and beverage trends in restaurants, French cuisine, the cuisines of Asia in general and Thailand in particular, restaurant operations and service trends. 

Bret Thorn’s Experience: 

Nation’s Restaurant News, food & beverage editor, 1999-Present
New York Sun, columnist, 2005-2008 
Asia Times, sub editor, 1995-1997
Manager magazine, senior editor and restaurant critic, 1992-1997
ABC News, runner, May-July, 1989

Education:
Tufts University, BA in history, 1990
Peking University, studied Chinese language, spring, 1989
Nanjing University, studied Chinese language and culture, fall, 1988 
Le Cordon Bleu Ecole de Cuisine, Cértificat Elémentaire, 1986

Email: [email protected]

Social Media:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bret-thorn-468b663/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bret.thorn.52
Twitter: @foodwriterdiary
Instagram: @foodwriterdiary

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