I guess that is the philosophy of the powers that be at Carl's Jr. It must have been about a year or two ago when Carl's Jr. hired Paris Hilton to eat a burger with very little on, thinking that guys were going to get turned on and go out a buy a bunch of burgers and fries at their nearest Carl's Jr. The reason I remember that short-term, ad agency tactic is because it was a success, but because it failed miserably. Now I see that Carl's Jr. is back at it again.
This time they have hired Kim Kardashian to be their spokes-kitten. Apparently this time Carl's Jr. is trying to go green by trying to sway men to enter a contest and win a salad date with Kim. I have to admit that it has been a very long time since I ate at Carl's Jr. so things may have changed over the past few years. But, the reason I have not eaten there for a long time is the same reason I advocate that they concentrate on developing a long-term sustainable brand strategy based on quality of food and service.
Why do some organizations never learn that sex rarely works as a brand strategy? As my friend and brand futurist, Martin Lindstrom says in his quote in Monday's USA Today article on this topic, "What does sex really have to do with burgers?" Ditto! This is not the way to recruit and retain brand champions.
Rex Whisman
Brand Champions Blog
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