FRANKLIN, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--CKE Restaurants, Inc. today announces they are further evolving the separation of their iconic restaurants by saying “Welcome Home to Hardee’s,” celebrating the distinct customer, food culture, and voice Hardee’s has in America.
“Hardee’s has been, and always will be a brand that ‘welcomes you home,'” said Jason Marker, chief executive officer, CKE Restaurants, Inc. “It’s an exciting time for not only the brand, but for the entire company. We will accelerate the growth of our business by providing both iconic brands the space they need to grow, putting our unbeatable quality and great tasting food at the forefront of the business.”
For the first time in nearly a decade, Hardee’s is taking center stage, celebrating America’s heartland with a brand defining campaign, Tastes Like America.
Created by Havas Chicago, Tastes Like America celebrates the values Hardee’s shares with its customers throughout the country. As one of the most beloved regional brands in America, Hardee’s will feature real people, real moments, and real food. Always focused on quality, Tastes Like America celebrates pride in process, providing customers with food the way they’d make it, and creating a true ‘comfort culture’.
“No fast food brand has ‘comfort culture’ more core to its DNA than Hardee’s,” said Jeff Jenkins, chief marketing officer, CKE Restaurants, Inc. “Just like we’re pushing ‘crave culture’ forward with Carl’s Jr., we’re going to use this new campaign to introduce customers to ‘comfort culture’ at Hardee’s, placing a heavy emphasis on local pride and quality food.”
Hardee’s defines ‘comfort culture’ as a “down home, done right” approach to food, from 100 percent Black Angus Thickburgers®, Made from Scratch™ Biscuits, Hand-Breaded Chicken Tenders™, to Hand-Scooped milkshakes, and everything that surrounds it. It’s a sense of comfort and pride that comes from who you are, where you’re from, and how you do things. The new campaign features hick hop music star, Big Wet, whose voice personifies an authentic, relaxed vibe that ‘comfort culture’ is all about. His voice is featured on Hardee’s new television commercial and anthem song, which partners his musical style with real people in Hardee’s markets.
“Hardee’s is part of the fabric of a modern American culture,” said Jason Peterson, chief creative officer, Havas Creative, U.S. “It’s a reflection of a contemporary society in America that isn’t celebrated often enough.”
In the coming months, Hardee’s marketing efforts will be impossible to ignore as they build out Tastes Like America on both a regional and local level. Customers can expect to see a revived look and feel at their local Hardee’s, new menu items featuring their handmade process, and regional campaigns tailored to the unique nature of local markets across America.
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About CKE Restaurants Holdings, Inc.
CKE Restaurants Holdings, Inc. (“CKE”) is a privately held company headquartered in Franklin, Tenn. CKE is not a franchisor and conducts substantially all of its restaurant activities and operations through its subsidiaries. Carl’s Jr. Restaurants LLC and Hardee’s Restaurants LLC own, operate and franchise the Carl’s Jr., Hardee’s, Green Burrito® and Red Burrito® concepts. Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s operate as one brand under two names, acknowledging the rich regional heritage of both banners. After recent international openings in Chile, Cambodia and Kenya, Carl’s Jr. Restaurants LLC and Hardee’s Restaurants LLC now have over 3,800 franchised or company-operated restaurants in 44 states and 43 foreign countries and U.S. territories. Known for its one-of-a-kind premium menu items such as 100 percent Black Angus Thickburgers®, Made from Scratch™ Biscuits and Hand-Breaded Chicken Tenders™, as well as an award-winning marketing approach, the Carl’s Jr./Hardee’s brand continues to deliver substantial and consistent growth in the U.S. and overseas. The Carl’s Jr./Hardee’s system is now 94 percent franchised, with international restaurants representing 21 percent of the system.
For more information about CKE, please visit www.ckr.com or its brand sites at www.carlsjr.com and www.hardees.com.
About Havas U.S.
Havas U.S. is a progressive agency focused on being the most valuable partner to the modern CMO. It offers a comprehensive mix of capabilities that aren’t what you’d expect to find in a creative firm, such as experience design, cognitive, data and technology. With Villages in New York and Chicago, Havas U.S. brings nearly 2,700 of the most talented people in the business. As the most modern, flexible and agile agency in the U.S., Havas U.S. reinforces the following five key pillars in everything it does: creativity, culture, community, consumer experience and commerce. We are creators. We are data. We are social. We are ideas.
For more information, visit havas.com or follow Havas on Twitter (@havas), Facebook (facebook.com/havas) and Instagram (@havas).
