Clara Peller Where's the Beef Nj
"Where's the Beef?" The Story of the Most Famous Slogan Ever
How one line changed pop culture and even an election
When you think of famous commercial slogans, which ones come to mind? There are probably a few specific ones burned into your memory. Many iconic commercials and catchphrases have existed over the years, but in the 1980s one rose above them all.
"Where's the Beef" was a commercial catchphrase for Wendy's that came out in 1984 and was used to question other fast food companies for their lack of meat. It starred unknown actress Clara Peller and was created by the groundbreaking Joe Sedelmaier. The phrase skyrocketed Wendy's profits and became one of the most famous catchphrases of all time.
Setting the Stage for "Where's the Beef"
There have been many iconic catchphrases from commercials over the years. Some that may come to mind include:
- I'm Lovin' It
- Finger-Lickin' Good
- They're G-R-R-R-reat!
- Just Do It
- A Diamond Is Forever
- Whassup (hate it or not, that thing didn't go anywhere…)
But in the 1980s, one catchphrase ruled them all — "Where's the Beef?" If you grew up during this time, you know how iconic this catchphrase was. It had a tremendous impact on pop culture throughout the decade and beyond. It would be repeated everywhere and made Clara Peller — the woman who uttered the phrase — world famous.
The phrase "Where's the Beef" continued to grow and would be used to question things such as ideas, events, or products as to if they had any substance. The story of "Where's the Beef" is about how catchphrases can spread like wildfire, an unlikely celebrity, and an advertising manager who changed the way we make commercials.
Why Was the "Where's the Beef" Commercial Needed?
McDonald's and Burger King were leaders of the fast-food burger market, and they promoted the size of their burgers with products like the "Big Mac" and the "Whopper."
Wendy's didn't have any specific "big-name" type burger, and most of their products were single patty burgers. But they contained more meat than they believed people realized.
They wanted to showcase that their hamburger had more beef and that McDonald's and Burger King were hiding their lack of meat by using larger buns. Wendy's wanted to call them out for these tactics while showcasing that they had more beef. So how would they do this?
Bring In Joe Sedelmaier
Sedelmaier was an art director at Young & Rubicam and J. Walter Thompson, which if you know your Mad Men, are big-time advertising companies. Commercials used to always feature glamorous looking people and models as they tried to create an idealistic impression of people to sell their products.
These days, though, we get a good mix of that and more comedic based advertising — as you see in a lot of Super Bowl spots. Today, you're just as likely to see a regular-looking person in an ad as you are a Kardashian.
This seems normal but wasn't the case in the '70s and '80s. During this time period, commercials would use flawless-looking people to create an image of perfection for whatever product was being sold.
Sedelmaier changed all of this and altered the appearance of how commercials looked. Instead of using perfect looking actors, he cast regular-looking and sometimes not attractive people.
Again, this doesn't seem like a big deal today, but this was groundbreaking in the '70s and into the '80s. He also gave commercials a looser feel instead of making them look like a glossy, movie-like production. He wanted to make commercials more fun and engaging, as opposed to looking like every other ad you've ever seen.
His commercials would include things like people making strange expressions, sped up and slowed down movements, and exaggerated loping walks. Sedelmaier said that "a commercial is something you watch when you sit down to watch something else — you should at least be entertained."
It was this approach that made him a rock star in the advertising world. He would win multiple Clio awards and was a highly sought after talent. Sedelmaier was the man behind the FedEx "fast-talking man" commercials, and he was just what Wendy's would need to deliver their message.
Creating "Where's The Beef" & the Different Variations
The project was put in place by Wendy's international vice president, William Welter, who led the marketing team going into the campaign. Assisting Welter was Dan Dahlen, a 35-year advertising veteran who worked for the Wendy's ad team from 1982 to 1986.
Their goal was to show other places using buns to hide their meat and use regular people in the ad in the way Sedelmaier had made so effective. It started out as a commercial featuring a young couple; they were regular looking people — not models per se — but the ad just wasn't funny.
For the next versions of the ad, they came up with a storyboard for two different versions of the commercial after they ditched the young couple.
One version featured a trio of older men with one of them, an elderly bald man, saying, "Thanks, but where's the beef?" It didn't seem to connect very well, but they had another version they had filmed with three older ladies, including one named Clara Peller that they had discovered.
Peller was born in 1902 and had spent 35 years working for a beauty salon in Chicago. A commercial being filmed in Chicago needed to be set in a barbershop and required a manicurist. They took a chance on casting the 80-year-old Pellar to play the part.
The agency filming the commercial loved her no-nonsense manner and unique voice. They believed they could make use of her and signed her to an agency contract. Peller was hard of hearing and could only recite short lines of dialogue so that limited what she could do on camera.
She started appearing in several commercials and caught the eye of the people from Wendy's who cast her in their new commercial. She would be instrumental in the commercial's success.
Getting the Commercial on the Air
With the two versions of the commercial now ready, they took it to the ad committee, made up of six executives and 10 franchisees. They rejected it. The committee thought the version with Peller was a little too abrupt because of her louder and harsher way of speaking.
They reworked some things, and the second version of the commercial — the one you know — got the thumbs up. Many probably don't remember this, but the version with the trio of men actually aired alongside the version with Pellar in an old-fashioned a/b split testing.
The version with Peller snowballed, making them dump the one with the old men and focus on the trio of older ladies. The commercial caught on like wildfire. Even though it was supposed to run for just a short while, the explosion in popularity kept it on the air for 10 weeks.
The Massive Impact of "Where's the Beef"
Advertising is tough today. There are so many things vying for your attention, making it difficult for advertisers to find the right platform. In the '80s, with only three networks, it was much easier to get your message across to a vast majority of the viewing public.
There was so little else vying for people's attention that anything on network television could blow up by the next day. Entire careers could be made by one good musical performance or stand-up comedy set. You could be an unknown comic, have a great set on Johnny Carson, and the next day you were a household name.
This was the case with the "Where's the Beef" commercial when it aired in 1984. Everyone was immediately aware of it and embraced its uniqueness. It caught on so fast that it became a cultural phenomenon and made Peller somewhat of a cult star.
This paid off big time for Wendy's as every Wendy's restaurant generated at least 10% more sales in 1984 than they did in 1983. Overall sales jumped by 31% to $945 million worldwide by 1985.
The Cultural Impact of "Where's the Beef"
"Where's the Beef" made the rounds on late-night talk shows and even turned into a song. A Nashville songwriter named Coyote McCloud recorded and performed his version of "Where's the Beef," and it was a pretty big hit.
"Where's the Beef" then crept its way into the 1984 presidential election.
During the primaries of the spring of 1984, Democratic candidate and former vice-president Walter Mondale used the phrase against opponent Gary Hart. Mondale stated that the program policies put forward by Hart were lacking in substance. This was at the height of the popularity of the commercial and was a great way to tap into the public consciousness by using a topical phrase that was also a cutting jab.
This all happened during a televised debate just before the New York and Pennsylvania primaries. Hart was seen as being in a similar mold to John F. Kennedy — especially in appearance. His platform was based on the concept of "new ideas."
Hart had gone from a dark horse to more of a threat and kept pushing the "new ideas" viewpoint in all his debates. Mondale seemed like he was waiting for this and after Hart repeated it during the debate, Mondale leaned over and says:
"When I heard your new ideas, I'm reminded of that ad, 'Where's the beef?'"
Hart would eventually have to physically show his policy papers and tell Mondale, "Here's the beef." Mondale kept pushing about "where's the beef" with Hart's policies and the public started seeing them the same way. It ended up casting doubt on Hart's new ideas and helped Mondale win the Democratic nomination.
The Legacy of "Where's the Beef"
Following all of this, Wendy's would enter a big two-year sales slump. This was probably because catchphrases come and go quickly, and the success is more often about the catchphrase than the brand itself.
Wendy's said it would take five years until they recovered and could create brand awareness again. But they cemented their place in history with one of the most popular slogans ever. Ad Age named it one of the top 10 ad slogans of the 21st century and it helped propel Wendy's into the third-largest burger chain in the world.
What started out as an attempt by Wendy's to call out their competitors turned into a pop-culture milestone.
Source: https://bettermarketing.pub/wheres-the-beef-the-story-of-the-most-famous-slogan-ever-550d3f0c48c
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