Gabe Chrysson, Thick and Thin: How Hardee’s Sells Sex, Sexism, and Patriotism through Thickburgers

“Would you like fries with that?” is a question that is understood almost everywhere in the United Sates. That is typically a question that a fast-food restaurant employee asks a customer. More recently, other terms like “Biggie Size” or “Super Size” are all to familiar. Hardee’s, however, has cleverly figured out ways in which it can promote its product through its ad campaign of the “Thickburger”. Throughout the ad campaign’s lifetime, the Thickburger has surpassed their original goals of offering customers with a good quality burger and apologies of poor cuisine in the past, and has now transcended into its own being by promoting ideals of sexism and womanizing, as well as thriving off of masculine and patriotic American ideals of a post September 11^th world.

Before one can fully commence in criticizing the tactics employed by the ad campaign, the company, its product, and the means of employing it must be addressed. Hardee’s (Carl’s Jr. in the West) is owned by CKE Restaurants of Carpinteria California. Their most successful product that has lifted them from dire sales and service in recent years is the Thickburger. This particular burger has many variations and sizes. The king of all Thickburgers is the 2/3 lb Monster Thickburger, served with two 1/3 lb Angus beef patties and four slices of bacon. According to Hardee’s nutritional information, this sandwich contains 1420 calories, 970 from fat alone, 108 grams of fat, 43 of which are saturated fat grams, 230 grams of cholesterol, 2770 milligrams of sodium, and a very macho 60 grams of protein. That is approximately twice the suggested daily intake of saturated fat, and almost an entire days worth of sodium. Adding fries and a drink for a combo can put this meal over the edge of one’s total recommended caloric intake. It is not required to be a professional nutritionist to take note of these astounding numbers. So, how is then that Hardee’s blatantly and successfully advertises this burger with the words “monster” and “thick”, and do so easily? How is it that the women depicted in the commercials are attractive and thin if all they do is serve men and eat these burgers every day? The commercials are targeted to young men, and rather than discuss the burger, they depict a certain lifestyle and social construct that young guys find appealing. Hardee’s fires on all cylinders with its recipe of sex, women, and macho that directly targets hungry Americans.

The commercials throughout the campaign portray idealized images of male oriented sexual fantasies, and objectify women much in the same way as Luce Irigaray notes in a chapter of This Sex Which Is Not, “Women on the Market”. She argues that “The society we know, our own culture, is based upon the exchange value of women” (Irigaray 170). That claim holds true throughout the bulk of the Thickburger advertisements seen on television. Paris Hilton appears in one commercial from 2005 wearing a revealing bikini as she simultaneously washes a car and seductively eats a Thickburger.The consumer is essentially being told that with the purchase of this particular burger these fantasies will turn into reality. The reason women depicted in these commercials are all considered to be desirable by men is obvious. Men will associate one of the most bodily functions, eating, with another vital part of life, sex. So why does Hardee’s not promote the same kind of sexually driven advertisements targeted towards women audiences? According to Irigaray, it is that “all systems of exchange that organize patriarchal society and all the modalities of productive work that are recognized, valued, and rewarded in these societies are men’s business” (Irigaray 171). What Hardee’s accomplishes in these sexist commercials is no different from what Irigaray speaks of. A man in society asks his bride’s hand in marriage with the permission of her father. Traditionally, a mother does not give up her son for marriage. Like a father of a marriage hopeful woman, Hardee’s sells these women as commodities for the hungry consumer to own, all for the price of a cheeseburger.

Women’s bodies “must be treated as an abstraction” (Irigaray 175) in order for the discriminatory exchange operation to take place. The abstraction is purely conceptual and speaks volumes to subconscious social constructs and expectations of what a woman’s body is and does. This understanding of a woman’s body is what inevitably leads to different qualities that give value and worth to them. For reasons like this, Hardee’s employs recognizable sex symbols like Paris Hilton opposed to overweight burger eaters. In a separate commercial, an anonymous young lady puts her entire fist in her mouth. She passes the imagined Thickburger test, and earns her right or place in this system by doing so. The sexual innuendos scream as loud as ever here, and it is evident that Hardee's resorts to depicting sex in order to stimulate interest in their food. It is required of her, as it is with every other woman who contributes in these advertisements, to solidify their respective positions not on the merits of skill and capabilities, but on the basis of their worth for sex. It is easily seen that the bodily obsessed patriarchal system that employs such tactics is discriminatory, unfair, and unrealistic.

Patriotism in the United States since September 11^th attacks of 2001 has taken a new meaning that Hardee’s undoubtedly captures, packages, and sells to its select audience of young men. When the commercials are not filled with half naked women for their viewing pleasure, they are instead loaded with sweaty firemen. Firemen are looked up to in society as true heroes who sacrifice everything and ask for nothing in return. Working hard to save innocent American lives, they too require energy for the job. Luckily, Hardee’s is there to supply them with spicy jalapeño burgers and refreshing soft drinks. There are other depictions of middle class hardworking American blue collar types, like painters and construction workers. They too are idolized for making up the bulk of the country. But, it is the firefighters that truly stand out and embody an entire socioeconomic group of hungry Americans on the prowl for an affordable and quintessential American meal. By depicting these two groups, Hardee’s has a perfect blend of hard working blue collars and superheroes, or the every day people with a childhood fantasy capable of being fulfilled. By depicting patriotism closely to both of them, viewers can fulfill their own patriotic duties by purchasing a Thickburger, and live the dream of being a firefighter.

The Aura of masculinity that stems from patriotism transcends to other facets of manhood as the Thickburger eaters do not partake in socially assigned female roles. In one ad, a group of friends are watching a NASCAR race on television. A member of the group walks in to the room and asks if anyone wants fresh biscuits. The narrator then says “Guys don’t bake”[1], and freshly baked biscuits are shown as the narrator concludes that they bake them fresh so you don’t have to. Hardee’s management even seems to firmly believe in this testosterone filled worldview. In an increasingly calorie sensitive world, the Thickburger, as the sound of the name implies, does not go unnoticed. In an interview with CNBC, the chief executive of Hardee’s, Andrew Puzder, notes that it is "not a burger for tree-huggers", but rather, "a burger for young hungry guys who want a really big, delicious, juicy, decadent burger". Young hungry guys are just the type of customer who this sandwich is marketed to. Not only can their appetite for a “juicy” and “decadent” burger be filled, but also their appetite for sex by means of a “juicy” and “decadent” woman, served up fresh to satisfy their testosterone driven desires.

The Thickburger can be seen as a vessel that offers an escape or getaway for young men much like Temple in Herman Melville’s “The Paradise of Bachelors and the Tartarus of Maids”. Hardee’s essentially says to the customer as Melville writes “take your pleasure, sip your leisure” (Melville 1257). The Temple, or in this case, the restaurant, is a collection of useful resources for the male customer with “all the best appurtenances” (Melville 1259). The appurtenances as advertised that are available to the customer are comprised of the women who promote the burgers, and of course the burgers themselves. The Thickburger offers this escape from the worries of everyday life to the consumers of this product much in the same way that the Paradise of Bachelors’ service does for the men of London. The commodities, and the woman’s body in particular used to promote them, as Irigaray claims, are truly abstractions that speak to a subconscious level of our psyche that seems simple and straightforward on the surface. On the surface, it is just a burger. Two slabs of bread, some meat in between, and some condiments. But these parts of the burger are clearly larger than the sum of their respective parts, and do serve as a means of escape into a young male’s fantasy.

Hardee’s Thickburgers are produced, advertised, and catered to young male fantasies by means of sex, patriotism, and masculinity. The burger’s blunt name, “Thickburger” even sounds tough and mean. The attractive women depicted in the ads are done so in subservient ways and portray women as sex commodities and Luce Irigaray argues. The patriotic symbolism in a post 911 era by means of firefighters speak volumes to an inherently American concept, the burger, and tell the consumers their need for it to be truly American. The masculinity and blatant sexism that are apparent throughout solidify the prior accusations of a young male audience that is targeted, sold, and fed Thickburgers in hopes of reproducing and eating, two vital parts of survival. The Thickburger undoubtedly possesses all of these characteristics, and Hardee’s employment of them is loud, unmistakable, and very apparent, much like a 1420 calorie filled 2/3lb burger is on one’s dinner plate.

Other videos to check out: Flat Buns advertisement and Slow Ride.

Works Cited

Irigaray, Luce. This Sex Which is Not One. Ithica: Cornell UP, 1985. 16 Apr. 2008.

"Hardee's NASCAR Commercial." Advertisement. 16 Apr. 2008

Melville, Herman. "The Paradise of Bachelors and the Tartarus of Maids." 1257-1279. 15

Apr. 2008.

"Nutrition." Hardees. 19 Apr. 2008 .

Wolk, Martin. "Hardee's Serves Up 1,420 Calorie Burger." Msnbc. 18 Apr. 2008

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[1] See Hardee’s NASCAR Commercial from youtube.com