The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper The Spokesman-Review
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
Current Temperature
59°F
Current Conditions
Overcast clouds
View complete weather report
Subscribe now

Back to burgers: Carl’s Jr. ditches bikini-clad ads

In this 2011 file photo, a man walks past a sign for a Carl's Jr. restaurant in San Bruno, Calif. The fast food chain released an advertisement on March 29, 2017, suggesting it intends to ditch its racy advertising in an effort to focus on its food. (Jeff Chiu / Associated Press)
Associated Press

Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s are ditching the bikinis and getting back to the burgers.

The chains are famous for advertisements featuring models and celebrities like Paris Hilton, Kate Upton and Emily Ratajkowski munching on burgers while scantily clad.

A new commercial for the chains shows the imagined Carl Hardee Sr. taking back control of the operation from immature son Carl Hardee Jr. Carl Sr. rips down photos of swimsuit models and puts up framed pictures of hamburgers. The chains are now calling themselves “pioneers of the great American burger.”

The company’s racy advertising campaign had a defender in Andrew Puzder, who is stepping down as CEO of the chains’ parent company, Carpinteria, California-based CKE Restaurant Holdings. Puzder withdrew as President Donald Trump’s nominee for Labor Department secretary last month.