is an
American Fast-food Restaurant chain, located mostly on the
West Coast Of The United States . It was founded in
1945 by
Carl Karcher , and was owned by
CKE Restaurants .
Karcher got his start in the food industry by owning several
Hot Dog stands in
Los Angeles . In
1945 , Karcher started a restaurant in
Anaheim, California called . In
1956 , Karcher opened the first two Carl's Jr.'s so named because they were a junior version of his drive-in restaurant. The restaurant chain was characterized by its fast service and its logo, a bright yellow five-pointed star. Another chain,
Hardee's , also share this logo.
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Carl's Jr. quickly expanded, and currently has over 1,000 locations in 13
U.S. State s, as well as in
Mexico ,
Guam ,
Singapore and the
Philippines . Featured food items include the Double Western
Bacon Cheeseburger and the Six Dollar Burger, so called because it is of the same quality of a burger one would pay six dollars for in a sit-down restaurant. In
May of
2005 , Carl's Jr. introduced "The Spicy BBQ Six Dollar Burger" in a controversial advertising campaign (see below).
In
1996 and
1997 ,
CKE Restaurants bought out the remaining
Burger Chef stores in the
West Coast Of The United States , and converted them into the Carl's Jr. brand.
In
1997 ,
CKE Restaurants acquired
Hardee's , a restaurant chain with 2,500 locations on the
East Coast Of The United States . Hardee's restaurants are gradually being converted to be more like Carl's Jr, with some of the same menu items and even adopting the same star logo. The chain has also opened at least one restaurant in a former
Rally's location with a drive-thru lane, walk-up window and no interior seating it has dubbed "Carl's Jr. Jr."
In
2001 , CKE Restaurants acquired
Santa Barbara Restaurant Group , the company that owned the
Green Burrito brand.
As Of 2006 , Carl's Jr. operates 3,788 restaurants in 13
U.S. State s.
- If it doesn't get all over the place, it doesn't belong in your face.
- Don't bother me...I'm eating.
- Without us, some guys would starve.
In
May of
2005 , Carl's Jr. introduced its "Spicy BBQ Six Dollar Burger" in a
Television Advertisement , which features
Hilton Hotel Heiress ''
Paris Hilton '' in a provocative
Swimsuit soaping up a
Bentley automobile and crawling all over it before taking a big bite out of the burger.
The commercial has drawn criticism from television watchdog groups, including the
Parents Television Council . The research director for the PTC, Melissa Caldwell, says; "This commercial is basically soft-core porn. The way she moves, the way she puts her finger in her mouth — it's very suggestive and very titillating." The
Los Angeles, California -based group says they plan to mobilize their more than 1 million members to contact the
Restaurant chain and voice their concern.
Andy Puzder ,
CEO of Carl's Jr., says the group needs to "get a life… This isn't
Janet Jackson — there is no
Nipple in this. There is no
Nudity , there are no
Sex Acts — it's a beautiful
Model in a swimsuit washing a car."
In addition to featuring the ad on their web site, Carl's Jr. has also built a separate web site to play a longer version of the commercial.
A similar Hardee's ad with
Paris Hilton aired in June of
2005 .
See Also: Green Burrito
