Hardee’s to Customers: “Name Our Holes”

Recently, Adage reported on the latest in what they refer to as the recent fast food “smutfest” (perhaps they were thinking of the recent BK blow job ad or Hardee’s/Carl’s Jr’s continuing use of hot chicks in bikinis).  Proving that Hardee’s/Carl’s Jr. is basically unabashed in their use of sex and sexually suggestive terms to sell food, its latest promotion is asking customers to “Name Our Holes.”  No, not those holes  you pervert, Hardee’s has created a new product called “Biscuit Holes”, which is odd, because biscuits DO NOT HAVE holes.

So what is a Biscuit Hole? Hardee’s describes it as:

A bit of biscuit dough rolled in cinnamon and sugar and served with icing for dipping.

So where does the “Name Our Holes” stuff come into play? In a press release, Brad Haley, Hardee’s exec VP of marketing, states:

“They really are irresistible, and it’s almost impossible to eat just one.  But what to call them was a big challenge. One of my favorite options was ‘Biznuts,’ a cross between ‘biscuits’ and ‘donuts’.”

Playing off of Hardee’s alleged confusion over what to call them, they have created a website called Name Our Holes and luckily were able to secure the rights to that URL, which was miraculously not already in use by a porn site. The website lets you submit suggested names as well as see the entries of others.

Some of you may be thinking, “hey, there is nothing lewd about this, they just want help re-naming their biscuit holes. Maybe you are finding sexual inneundo where it doesn’t exist.” For those thinking that, I would like to note exhibit A: the slogan is, “They sound wrong, but taste so right.”  Also, exhibits B & C: two early commercials for the product.  In this first one, the announcer solicits ideas for product names, even suggesting himself that a good name would be “bisticules.”

This second ad is actually quite funny. Taste testers are asked to try donut holes and biscuit holes, and report on which one they like better. The plates are labeled “A” and “B”, leading to many remarks about what people do, or do not like about “the A holes.”

So on the one hand we have Hardee’s ads that were basically written by a bunch of frat guys, and contain multiple testicle jokes. On the other hand, I found myself laughing at some of the commercials, and even though I’d never eat this product, I found myself compelled to write about the product launch and marketing campaign. Is the idea and promotion behind this product launch a bit juvenile and tasteless? Yes. But it seems like this was done in a way that makes people scoff, snicker and remember the ads. Unlike the BK blow job ad, which elicited few snickers, just reactions of bafflement at how over the line it was.

I’m not saying I love this product launch or anything, but in juxtaposition to the blow job ad, it does remind you that you can play around the line without blatently crossing it.