Carl's Jr. "Carl Hardee Sr. Returns" (2017) 3:00 (USA)

When you think carl's Jr, you think T&A. In 2005 they featured Paris Hilton. They had a woman riding a mechanical bull in 2003. And who could forget the stomach churning Kim Kardashian Grilled Chicken Salad from 2009? Point is, Carl's been sex hungry since the early 00's.
You'd have thought in an era of safe spaces and micro aggressions they would have dumped this a long while ago but as recently as 2015 when agency 72andsunny gamely tried a shift to an actual selling point like an "All Natural" burger (whatever the hell that means) they still had to show off Charlotte McKinney in the buff.
So wow is it refreshing that all of a sudden Carl Sr has stepped in to take the reigns back from his perma-adolescent son and his VR-wearing snowflake friend, give us some history of the brand (like, you know, real advertising stuff) and then ride off into an unknown tomorrow. The acting is superb and of course they still manage to show plenty of skin in the ad but we are reassured that will change. Carl's Jr is delightfully smarmy and kudos to the brand for poking fun of itself like that and referencing past ads (including the bull riding one) that let's face it, put them back on the map more than a decade and a half ago. It's great to watch Carl Sr wresting control away from the man-children and righting the scales so to speak. There are some good laugh out loud moments here. But the editing is this side of atrocious. And I can't help but think that as they ride off into camera we're in for more of the same only more boring because they're only going to get more retail as they start to push specific products. I hope I'm wrong.
Refreshing? Indeed. And ironic, too. 72andsunny is known for chasing after the endless superficiality and narcissism that supposedly represents the millennial psyche. How else would you explain taking the once great anti-smoking Truth and turning it into a "Don't smoke cause you'll get left-swiped," message? So it's interesting that the agency known for chasing the millennial dragon is all of a sudden throwing millennials under the bus in this spot by suggesting they are the reason Carl's Jr's sexist ads have been the cause of their flagging sales. It's also inadvertently admitting 72 is as much at fault for this as Carl's Jr is.

Client: CKE
CMO: Brad Haley
SVP, Product Marketing: Bruce Frazer
Director of Advertising: Brandon LaChance
VP, Field Marketing, Media & Merchandising: Steve Lemley
Director, Product Marketing & Merchandising: Christie Cooney
Product Marketing Managers: Kathy Johnson, Allison Pocino, Claire Eastburn
72andSunny Team
Founder, Creative Co-Chair: John Boiler
Executive Creative Director: Jason Norcross
Group Creative Director: Josh Fell
Sr. Designer: Jon Hall
Writer: Drew Burton
Designer: Daran Brossard
Creative Director: Mark Maziarz
Creative Director: Helena Skonieczny
Writer: Alex Schaeffer
Designer: Abbas Deidehban
Jr. Writer: Corey O’Brien
Jr. Designer: Max Matesen
Group Strategy Director: Scott Jensen
Strategy Director: Michael Lewis
Strategist: Luis Jasso
Jr. Strategist: Marquis Mahoney
Group Brand Director: Alexis Coller
Brand Director: Michal David
Sr. Brand Manager: Ali Arnold
Brand Manager: Ryan Rodriguez
Brand Coordinator: Makenna Magarity
Brand Coordinator: Lindsay Foregger
Business Affairs Director: Amy Jacobsen
Sr. Business Affairs Manager: Jennifer Jahinian
Business Affairs Coordinator: Joseph Pereira
Executive Film Producer: Molly McFarland
Sr. Film Producer: Brooke Horne
Jr. Film Producer: Nani Weinberg
Jr. Film Producer: Skyler Courter
Film Production Coordinator: Ian Donnelly
Production Company: Hungry Man
Director: Wayne McClammy
EP: Mino Jarjoura
Producer: Dave Bernstein
DP: Matthew Libatique
Editorial: Rock Paper Scissors
Editor: Christjan Jordan
Producer: Dani DuHadway
VFX: JAMM
Color: Shed
Music: Beacon Street
Sound Design/Mix: HECHO EN 72
Production Company: HECHO EN 72