The Carl’s Jr. Burger Girl Is So Back, For Better or Worse

As Carl’s Jr. put it in a 2011 press release, per the The Wall Street Journal: “We believe in putting hot models in our commercials, because ugly ones don’t sell burgers.”

That company culture apparently changed when Carl’s Jr. stopped running these ads in 2017, the same year the #MeToo movement gained significant traction across the country. Around the same time, Donald Trump had nominated Andrew Puzder, former chief executive officer of CKE Restaurants (the parent company of Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr.) for Labor Secretary.

“I think that any grocery store you go into, or drug stores you’re going to see on magazine covers things that are more revealing than you saw in many of our ads,” Puzder told Fox Business after withdrawing himself from consideration. “We got the attention of this demographic, young hungry guys, which was what our marketing and research department advised us to do.”

It’s not even a little surprising that these commercials are back one month after Donald Trump’s second inauguration. Ever since his election, many democrats have blamed their party for abandoning white men by spending too much energy on “woke” language and policies. As Trump settles into office, he’s engaged in a full-on attack on D.E.I., blaming diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives for practically everything, including the devastating DC plane crash that killed 67 people.

Misogyny and racism disguised as strength is echoing across the country, with Mark Zuckerberg promoting “masculine energy” in the workplace while lawmakers work to strip back reproductive rights and incentivize 1950s-era covenant marriages.

“This is the new world with new rules and new rulers,” the current chief marketing officer of CKE Restaurants, Jennifer Tate, told the Wall Street Journal of the Carl’s Jr. advertisement. “Alix Earle is a social media empress. Carl’s Jr. is having so much fun doing things other brands are too timid to do.”