The fine folks at Carl's Jr. & Hardee's have given their website a very cool makeover that the FPT staff recommends you visit and check out the cool stuff. What we liked the most was depending on what time of day you visit the site - the food on the table changes. For example if you visit in the morning you see breakfast foods and in the evening you see dinner.
Here is the official press release:
Burger Lovers Can Now Customize Site and Interact With Virtual Roommates
CARPINTERIA, Calif. – Oct. 1, 2008 – Carl's Jr. and Hardee's have again transformed the way fans can bond with their burgers and each other. Both brands re-launched their Web sites this week with an updated look, expanded interactivity and new customer loyalty program.
The sites,
carlsjr.com and
hardees.com, feature an enhanced "young, hungry guy's" dream bachelor pad, starting with a virtual, 3D living room landing page and a large, flat-screen TV playing Carl's Jr. and Hardee's latest television ads. A library of some of the brands' hottest historical ads is also accessible. Site visitors can now select a virtual roommate who will interact with them each time they login to the site. And because we all know guys like gaming, the site allows visitors to sign up for the "Burger Slayer" loyalty program, earning points that can be used to customize the look of the living room and eventually unlock "hottie" roommate options and other brand fan freebies.
"When we first partnered with Spacedog Interactive, now part of Mendelsohn-Zien Advertising, to design and launch state-of-the art Web sites for both Carl's Jr. and Hardee's in 2005, the sites were unlike anything anyone was doing in the industry because they focused more on an aspirational lifestyle for our 'young, hungry guy' customers," said Brad Haley, executive vice president of marketing for Carl's Jr. and Hardee's restaurants. "But since that time, others have copied our approach - in some cases very closely, indeed - so we wanted to regain our leadership with revamped sites that take the virtual living room environment and the overall brand interaction potential to a whole new level. The new 3D capability and full live-action video capability will also allow us to do cool things like have special guests, including hot new bands, make exclusive appearances on the sites in the future."
The living room landing page has been updated with 3D modeling as well as real-time day-to-night transitions. On the coffee table: a full meal from Carl's Jr. or Hardee's, which changes depending on the time of day visitors log on - as does the scene outside the window.
The sites were designed by the digital division of Mendelsohn-Zien Advertising, formerly operated as digital design and marketing firm, Spacedog Interactive. Mendelsohn-Zien is the Los Angeles-based agency known for creating the brands' edgy, iconic advertising campaigns.
Visitors to the Carl's Jr. and Hardee's Web sites can also explore and interact in 3D thanks to a partnership with ExitReality. The technology allows users to experience the traditional, 2-dimensional sites as 3-dimensional spaces and even convert their profile pages on social network platforms, such as MySpace and Facebook, into 3D environments. The ExitReality 3D component is available to download on the Carl's Jr. and Hardee's sites.
In conjunction with the launch of these new sites, CKE Restaurants has partnered with Lionsgate for a promotion in support of their recent theatrical release "My Best Friend’s Girl". Consumers visiting the Carls'Jr. or Hardee's sites can click on the movie poster in their virtual living room and enter the "Shave an Eyebrow for Love" contest for the chance to win $1,000. The site will serve as a platform to promote other such partnerships in the future. Movie clips are able to be viewed on the site's flat-screen TV.
Aside from the new and improved interactivity, consumers looking for nutritional information or restaurant location will be able to easily navigate and access the information. Since the sites were created using the Ruby on Rails framework, the information is easily updated and can be customized for visitors wanting to gather nutritional information for each menu item or an entire meal.
Chris sent along thse photo taken of the cooking and presentation of his hard-boiled peppered egg coins. With not much information from him on this platter - we asked him to say a few blurbs to which he replied:
"Its the right thing to do, and a delicious way to do it"
"sometimes i put them on salad but i've gotten so lethargic
these days as i wither away"
"feeds me. 2 eggs"
On a recent shopping excursion we came across these unique frozen chicken fries endorsed by Dwight Yoakam and made by Bakersfield Biscuits. There were two other items in this line - macaroni and cheese stuffed somethings and something else unusual - thats all we remember. Not a large portion here - but they were easy to microwave and while they easily passed our basic standards test, we would not give them a 5-star foodstuff rating. These scored a 3.5 out of 5. We include the price in this grading scale and at 99 cents as marked on the packaging - its a decent spent dollar.
On a sidenote - we actually paid $1.29 for these from Walgreen's. We did not notice this until we had allready purchased them or we would have protested. One thing that really gets under the skin of the Fat Pride Times is truth in packaging. We will be doing an official complaint to the location these were purchased from.
FOODSTUFFS FLASHBACKS
POST #9 IN A 7 PART SERIES
One of our staffers was inside a Carl's Junior picking up lunch for our meeting when he spotted this snapshot in time framed by the restroom doors. This drive-thru hot dog stand was at the corner of Florence & Western in Los Angeles and at the time was considered 'modernized'. Named Carl's at this time - the same organization would eventually run the Carl's Jr. locations you see today.
Our friend Frodo in Florida spent this weekend making up a big batch of his legendary vegetable soup, and as always he has provided us with fantastic media of the big event. Frodo obviously takes his soup making to another level this time around and he chose the perfect time of year to remind of us how great soup can be on a fall day.
Answer: Shrinkage!
BREAKING FOOD NEWS:
ST. LOUIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Not all burger lovers have big appetites but they all want big taste. So now, five years after Hardee's first raised the quality bar for fast-food hamburgers with its revolutionary line of charbroiled, 1/3- and 2/3-lb., 100% Black Angus beef Thickburgers, the chain has created a reduced-size version of the popular items especially for smaller appetites. Starting today, Hardee's is introducing Little Thickburgers for those who want a little less burger but aren’t willing to settle for lower quality value menu fare.
"Ever since we first introduced our signature line of Thickburgers in 2003, our research has consistently shown that people recognize and appreciate their superior taste and quality," said Brad Haley, Hardee’s EVP of Marketing for Hardee's restaurants. "The only complaint some people have ever had about our Thickburgers is that they were either too big or too expensive to order as much as they would like, particularly in this challenging economic environment. So, we created Little Thickburgers specifically for those people. Starting at just $1.99 and made with quarter pound, charbroiled, 100% Black Angus beef patties, Little Thickburgers may be smaller than the original Thickburgers, but they are definitely not small on taste."
Weighing in at a robust quarter of a pound, Little Thickburgers are smaller than a regular 1/3-lb. Thickburger but, even so, they still rival the size of most other chains' big burger offerings. Little Thickburgers are made with the same 100% Black Angus beef and topped with premium ingredients like fresh diced red onions, whole lettuce leaves, sliced tomato and dill pickles on a grilled, seeded bun, just like their popular big brothers.
An entertaining new advertising campaign illustrates the size difference between the classic 1/3-lb Thickburger and the new 1/4-lb. Little Thickburger in various humorous ways. In one ad, the Thickburger is described as a "Jock" while the Little Thickburger earns the "Jockey" title. In another, the Thickburger earns a Badonkadonk rating, while the Little Thickburger squeaks by with a Badinkadink. The ads were created by Los Angeles-based advertising agency, MendelsohnZien, the masterminds behind many iconic Hardee’s ads including the memorable Paris Hilton commercial, "That’s Hot" from 2005 and the Fake Restaurant campaign from earlier this year. To view the ads, visit http://www.mzad.com/demos/littlethickburgerads/.
Little Thickburgers are available in two versions: one fully loaded with cheese, produce and all the condiments and the other topped with cheese, diced onions, pickles, ketchup and mustard. The new burgers are available at all locations and start at just $1.99. Prices may vary.
From Regular Contributor Etathed:
A few years ago the state of West Virginia made it legal to to take home - and use - animals killed by cars. Thus the Roadkill Cookoff was born.
This past weekend I was fortunate enough to attend the World Famous Roadkill Cookoff in Marlinton, West Virginia. This is a unique food fest featuring cooks from all over the region competing for cash and prizes. The only rule is that the foodstuffs must be made from animals commonly found on the side of the road. While not for those with a weak stomach, there is a great variety of unique foods to sample at this yearly event. From bear, to deer, to turtles, this is truely an event that would make any Prider proud.
There where three foodstuffs that really knocked my socks off this year. They are, in no particular order:
- Smeared Hog, a wondefully and surprisingly tasty Groundhog recipe.
- Barnyard Buzzard, BBQ Buzzard grilled to perfection.
- Turkey Chili, A nice Spicy chili.
While these were my top 3 favorite samples of the day, I also tried two snapping turtle recipes, one a soup, the other just meat. While the soup was not very good at all, the meat dish was rather tasty.
Thanks to my friend and recent FPT Prider, mecoleman for taking these photos at the event.
