Hardee’s finally got someone to complain about its new A-hole campaign. Boddie-Noell Enterprises, which owns nearly 350 Hardee’s in North Carolina, is refusing to run the ads, which also are drawing fire from the Parents Television Council. The ads are built around the chain’s donut hole product, called B-holes – that’s B as in biscuit. In one ad people are asked to suggest a name for the product. They come up with ideas that show they are either clueless or fans of South Park.
The follow up ad takes a standard blind taste-test and tries to get as much salacious mileage as possible out of people being asked whether they prefer the A-holes to the B-holes. Somewhere this is what passes for wit. Earlier Hardee’s ads featured actresses dressed as French maids being slightly risqué about French dip.
Parents Television Council was only too happy to give this sophomoric drivel the attention its creators wanted. Issuing a statement that reads:
"The Hardee’s marketing team seems intent on pushing the boundaries at every turn whether we’re talking about ‘iced B-holes’ or the company’s attempts at turning hamburgers into sex objects. Each and every local franchisee can and should object and every Hardee’s customer has the right to patronize a more responsible fast food restaurant chain."
I think every Hardee’s customer has the right to patronize an actually funny fast food restaurant chain – if one existed.
Collateral Damage 