PO'd at Hardee's Advertising

Hardee's has begun running ads here in Nashville trumpeting the fact that they were selected as "Best Burger" in one of those stupifyingly wrong-headed newspaper polls where people select the most well known mass-market places over well-run independents (the kind of poll that selects Shoney's and Cracker Barrell as best breakfast over places like the Loveless Cafe, the Pancake Pantry, or even Waffle House for that matter).

What angers me about the ads is that Hardee's then runs a list of the places they "beat out": which includes all the local independent places that DO win the polls of educated readers. Places like Rotiers, Fat Mo's, Brown's Diner, or Cheeseburger Charlie's that do serve a superior burger. I will never eat a Hardee's burger again and I encourage you to do the same... I dispise predatory advertising of this nature, especially when it is based on a flawed poll to begin with!!

Hardee's is running the same type of ad in St. Louis. Hardee's claims to have been voted the best burger in STL and then a list of some truely great burger places is scrolled down the TV screen, e.g., O'Connell's, Seamus McDaniel's, etc.

Can't say that it will change my buying habits as I go to chains only out of absolute necessity.

You can count me in! (Of course, I've only eaten at Hardee's once, many many years ago.)

Hardee's has been trying to make a burger for years and they ain't made it yet.

They can do a bisquit but they can't do burgers.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

If y'all want to see an awesome burger, go look at the photo that Grampy posted for me on the thread: POSTING PICTURES ON ROADFOOD.COM. I ate this one-pound burger in Martinsburg, Nebraska, out in the middle of a cornfield......Pop. 90. Hardees can stuff it!

I don't eat there often, but there is one very convenient to our work (where the other choices are McD's, Arby's and Krystal) that I would occasionally run through...

clothier, go back and focus on the $24,000 suit you're making for me. Please.

I've seen the Hardee Ads in Indianapolis.. they claim #1 there... In Cincinnati the Same---#1 But in Louisville They say..."We are Number 2 and are proud to be right behind Genny's Diner". Genny's is the home of the Sweet Daddy a pound and a half of the messiest burger I have found in Louisville selling for $10.50 Not much of a comparison.

http://www.louisvillediner.com/Free.php?id=1

I can't tell you exactly why, but Hardee's is a chain I don't have confidence in. I cannot bring myself to order their food, though I once ordered a biscuit with something in it in the wee hours at a 24 hour Christiansburg, Va. store.

I think this prejudice comes from the quality of staff at a store I've stopped at for coffee on occasion. I have the same feeling toward other chains when I notice a lack of interest in the staff. I've walked out of many fast food places within seconds of walking in.

The Hardees ads Pogo described here are indeed misleading.

On their Web site (and maybe elsewhere) Sonny's barbecue, a Florida chain, trumphets a Southern Living magazine poll in which they reportedly were chosen as the premier barbecue business in the south.

Balderdash!

quote:

Originally posted by clothier

quote:

Originally posted by lleechef

clothier, go back and focus on the $24,000 suit you're making for me. Please.

I don't sew, I just sell.

By the way, did you want that suit with slacks, a skirt or chaps?

Chaps, please.

Yes, but I can't post them here........

If it wouldn't be too much bother............

quote:

Originally posted by clothier

Well, if it makes you happy.

You're gonna get me in trouble here! We were talking about Hardee's! Stay on the subject!

quote:

Originally posted by clothier

Who's getting whom into trouble???

He he, very funny. They'll all blame me cuz I'm the chef and you're the clothier!

Hmmmmm....
All these people upset & shocked that advertising is misleading! Oh my God!! What a revealation! Of course it's misleading. Do you realize that cigarette companies, patent medicines,and food companies used to say "9 out of 10 doctors agree about.." The doctors they were talking about were Ph.D's!! I've been in radio for 30 years and I deal with advertising everyday. You pick and choose the numbers and facts that help you. Ever tried to read the legal disclaimers in the fine print at the bottom of the screen?? So what??
Hardee's makes some claims..either you like their food or you don't. If you don't like it, claims that they're number-1 won't make you go.
If you like their food, claims that someone else is number-1 won't make you leave Hardee's and go to another place. This is a huge arguement about nothing.

quote:

Originally posted by clothier

Oh. The usual then?

Do you want the chap length to accomodate those 6 inch spikes?

Hmm----there's no BACK end on chaps--you posting pics or do we have tom drivew to Alaska to see this suit??

The point of my original post WAS NOT that their advertising was mis-leading. My point was that they are specifically targeting the independently-run high-quality mom & pop type places that are the main reason Roadfood exists as a concept. They are not trumpeting the fact that they rated higher than McDonalds, Wendys, Burger King and all the other chains. They are, instead, targeting the indies which do not tend to win these sorts of polls precisely because they tend to only have one or two outlets, which a lot of people in a metro area have never tried. Since these places tend to get their exposure through word-of-mouth rather than paid advertising, those who do not seek out these kinds of places may not be familiar with them. Certainly not to the extent of a chain. That is my point -- not that the advertising is mis-leading -- but that it unfairly targeting the type of place that can't fight back...

quote:

Originally posted by tiki

quote:

Originally posted by clothier

Oh. The usual then?

Do you want the chap length to accomodate those 6 inch spikes?

Hmm----there's no BACK end on chaps--you posting pics or do we have tom drivew to Alaska to see this suit??

YOU GUESS!!

Let's think this one out..... Chaps, open in the back....Alaska...Always the story each winter of the kid who takes the dare to lick the steel pipe, and freezes his/her tongue to the pipe.... Image forming... Bus stop bench...snowy day... LLEECHEF tired from long winter day of "Cheffing"...Sits on bus bench.... remains in same location for 6 month's or until the ice goes out!!! Or maybe PermaFrost Victim?
God I love a chain-story like this Anyone else want to ad a chapter to this adventure.

I thought Chaps were british gentlemen ????

Roy Rogers was one of the best fast food hamburger places when I was growing up. Then they were bought out by Hardees and the food quality diminished and the stores started going out of business. Now the only place you can find a Roy Rogers is on the Turnpikes -- and the quality stinks.

I hate Hardees.

Bill

Pogo---having read enough of your posts to know that your a man that truly appreciates GOOD,HONEST, REAL food, i will say this---i have never eaten at Hardies and now---i never will--I never did like corporate food or the advantages that they have over locals and we all know---including the corporate flunkies that push that crap-- that good local food is ALWAYS better then corporate food. Personally id rather wait for someone to actually COOK my dinner from a recipe in their head then have some untrained,underpaid,"dont really want to be here" "cook","assemble" my meal from a formula developed 1000 miles away and shipped out all over the states, and serve it in seconds and so that i can eat it quick and get out so they can fill that chair again. Ive got nothing against the corporates making a living---they will---theres p[lenty of folks who will eat what you tell them to---but i for one will buy my burger or q or eggs or whatever---from the locals--where ever they may be. One chain out west whose name i wont even mention,based their ad campaign on the sloppiness of their food and the inability of their customers to figure out how to cook their own meals!!! It seems that noone will ever go broke underestimating the poor taste of "the herd"!Im with ya guy!

And Roy Rogers wore chaps. Woah, it's all coming together like a Stephen King novel now...

quote:

Originally posted by EliseT

And Roy Rogers wore chaps. Woah, it's all coming together like a Stephen King novel now...

yep,puts a whole new slant on them cowpokes "slappin leather",dont it!

" and add's a new slant on tne old ad-phrase, "Soft as a Cowboy's Butt!!"

Dearfolk,
If Hardee's starts claiming that they make the best burger in Athens, Georgia, they will flat be LYING! A person is hard-pressed to find anything burgerwise to compare with those at The Grill at 171 College Avenue. There are other decent burgers about, but The Grill's uses never-frozen meat fresh daily (7 days a week) and serves on challah rolls.
I've never had a burger from my favorite place, The Normaltown Cafe', because I'd rather go for vegetables or creative omelettes. I will eventually have one - if only to satisfy my curiosity - and report back.
Hardee's to me has gone a ways downhill since the days of the ads featuring Roadrunner. I shy away from those-type places as if by shibboleth, but really from such factors as recurrent indigestion (and I have a cast-iron digestive system!) and ba-a-ad health ratings.
A Tad Ticked Off Myself (Especially After Reading What Poppycock They Have Been Spreading Elsewhere), Ort. Carlton in 30601-land.

Perhaps Hardee's will have to pull its ads in St. Louis. This morning's Post-Dispatch had its annual restaurant poll results and O'Connell's came out on top as having the best burger.

Nashville is home to possibly the worst Hardees I've ever seen...pogophiles, it's on Nolensville by Kmart.
Hardees has disgusting burgers. It makes The House of Scotland look like the Ritz.

Every Single Hardees in gainesville florida has been closed, and i am so glad for that. Although i have to look at thier retarded commercials everyday! "i had to buy lunch for everyone at my work and so i went to hardees even though they werent my first choice for a burger and everyone was so impressed by thier food that im getting lunch everyday this week...har har har" (vomits) I dont like the advertising slant of "we used to suck, but look at us now" To me thats like someone admitting they are wrong,,but they havent changed a bit. Fast food burgers wont ever touch the mom and pop burgers,,,i dont care who the freak wins some dumb poll.

quote:

Originally posted by Freiberger

Roy Rogers was one of the best fast food hamburger places when I was growing up. Then they were bought out by Hardees and the food quality diminished and the stores started going out of business. Now the only place you can find a Roy Rogers is on the Turnpikes -- and the quality stinks.

I hate Hardees.

Bill

A little hope in the DC area--a group of entreprenuers have bought the last few independent Roys down here, and are promising to restore them to their former glory. Apparently, they are food guys with a bit of respect for what these places meant to the hungry teen. So we shall see what happens.