On this day in 1984, fast food restaurant chain Wendy’s released its first commercial featuring the famous “Where’s the beef?” catchphrase.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This Day in History Class is a production of I
Heart Radio. Hello and Welcome to This Day in History Class,
a show for those interested in the big and small
moments of history. I'm Gabe Louzier, and in this episode,
we're looking back at a pop culture milestone of the
(00:22):
nineteen eighties, the time that Wendy's called out its competitors
by posing an age old question. The day was January ten,
four fast food restaurant chain Wendy's released its first commercial
(00:47):
featuring the famous Where's the Beef catchphrase. The commercial was
written by Cliff Freeman and directed by Joe Settlemeyer. The
ads signature line was delivered by Claire or A Peller
in eighty three year old manicurists turned actress from Chicago, Illinois.
Peller had been discovered three years earlier when she appeared
(01:10):
as a manicurist in a regional TV ad set inside
a Chicago barber shop. The agency behind that ad was
impressed with Peller's gruff attitude and unique voice, so they
signed her to a contract and later recommended her for
the Wendy's campaign. At the time, McDonald's and Burger King
(01:30):
were the undisputed leaders of the fast food burger market.
Both chains touted the size of their burgers, with sandwiches
like the Big Mac and the Whopper. Wendy's didn't have
a big name burger, but some of its products actually
contained more beef than its competitors. To get the word
out about their generous portions, the company commissioned a series
(01:54):
of ads suggesting that McDonald's and Burger King sandwiches were
really more on than Burger. In the first and most
famous of these commercials, which was titled Fluffy Bun, two
elderly women are seen examining a comically oversized Hamburger bun
from a fictional franchise whose slogan is Home of the
(02:16):
Big Bun. When one of the women lifts the top
of the massive bun, revealing a tiny patty underneath, that's
when Peller cuts in with her trademark line, let's take
a listen. It certainly is a big bun. Pits a
very big fun big It's a very big, puffy fun.
(02:37):
Where's the beef, John, Hamburger Places give you a lot
less beef on a lot of bun. Hey. Peller's line
was originally written as where is all the beef? But
it was shortened to accommodate the actress's emphysema, which limited
her ability to deliver longer lines. She was also hard
of hearing, so when she says her line in the commercial,
(03:00):
it's in response to someone off camera who cued the
actress by tugging on the hem of her skirt. Those
accommodations were more than worth it to acclaimed ad director
Joe Settlemeyer. He had already storyboarded two different versions of
the commercial, one with a young couple investigating the burger
(03:20):
and the other with three older men instead of women. However,
neither version seemed funny enough to the director. He even
shot the all male ad just to make sure, but
for some reason, having an old bald man question where's
the beef just didn't hit the right note. Desperate to
make the concept work, the director recast the parts with
(03:44):
three older women, and when Clara Peller exclaimed the famous line,
everything snapped into place. When the commercial premiered on January tenth,
it was an immediate hit, and Clara Peller became a
selet buberty overnight. The response was so strong that Wendy's
(04:04):
bought more airtime and kept the ad running for ten
weeks straight. In the meantime, they got Peller back into
the studio to film more commercials. She also made public
appearances at Wendy's restaurants and even did a tour of
TV talk shows. The commercial struck such a deep chord
with the public that it spawned its own line of merchandise,
(04:27):
including Where's the Beef? T shirts, bumper stickers, frisbees, and
even a board game. The pinnacle of the craze, however,
was when Peller recorded a Where's the Beef song with
Nashville radio disc jockey Coyote McCloud. Here's the taste, got
(04:48):
on got restaurant for bringing the film, and that's when
she step anybody hear me. Amazingly, the catchphrase took on
(05:14):
a life of its own. Beyond the realm of fast
food burgers, where's the Beef became a shorthand way to
criticize anything lacking substance. This was best exemplified during the
Democratic primary of the four presidential election. Democratic candidate Walter
Mondale used the phrase to condemn the insubstantial policies of
(05:38):
his party rival Gary Hart. During the televised debate, Mondale
leaned over and said, quote, when I heard your new ideas,
I'm reminded of that ad Where's the Beef? The cutting
remark cast out on Heart's new ideas, and Mondale later
secured the Democratic nomination. He wound up Loue using the
(06:00):
presidential race to Ronald Reagan that November, which led the
ads director Joe Settlemeyer to remark that quote, if Walter
Mondale could have said the line like Clara Peller, he
would have been our president. Of course, Clara Peller and
Walter Mondale weren't the only ones who benefited from the
Where's the Beef campaign. The year the ad debuted, Wendy's
(06:24):
sales grew more than ten percent over the previous year.
It's overall sales had risen to nine hundred and forty
five million dollars worldwide, an increase of over thirty one percent. Unfortunately,
all that success drove a wedge between the burger chain
(06:44):
and its biggest spokesperson. Peller was reportedly paid scale for
her first commercial, which was a little over three hundred
dollars per day at the time. She was paid significantly
more for the later ads, with Wendy's claiming to have
paid her more than half a million dollars in total. However,
Peller disputed that amount, believing she hadn't been paid anywhere
(07:07):
near her fair share. The feud reached its tipping point
in nine when Peller appeared in a commercial for Prego
spaghetti Sauce. The spot promoted a new pasta sauce loaded
with beef and featured Peller declaring, I found it. I
finally found it. Although Prago wasn't in the burger game,
(07:30):
Wendy's didn't like the implication that the beef could be
found in someone else's product. William Welter, the executive vice
president of marketing for Wendy's, said that the Prego commercial
quote infers that Clara found the beef at somewhere other
than Wendy's restaurants. Unfortunately, Clara's appearance in the ads makes
(07:53):
it extremely difficult for her to serve as a credible
spokesperson for our products. Clara Peller never worked for Wendy's again,
but she continued to enjoy her new found fame. Over
the next two years. She did numerous interviews and TV appearances,
including a cameo on Saturday Night Live and a bizarre
(08:15):
gig as the guest timekeeper for a match at WrestleMania two.
The actress passed away on August eleventh, nineteen eighty seven,
at the age of eighty five. Her obituary in the
Chicago Tribune included an ironic parting shot at Peller's one
time employer. Apparently, she frequently met her friends for morning
(08:39):
coffee at her local McDonald's. As for Wendy's, it saw
five years of declining sales after the Whares the Beef
campaign ended. The chain eventually rebounded with a new ad
campaign starring its founder Dave Thomas, but none of the
company's slogans ever topped the popular larity of Where's the Beef.
(09:02):
It's shadow looms so large that Wendy's has actually brought
the phrase back twice, first inleven and then again in
when supply shortages caused by COVID nineteen made beef hard
to come by in some areas. Neither revival left much
of an impact, as it's just not the same without
(09:23):
Clara Peller there to reprise her role, but the original
commercial still stands as one of the most successful and
enduring ads of the twenty first century. It turned Wendy's
into the third largest burger chain in the world and
created one of the most unexpected pop culture crazes of
the nineteen eighties. The creative team behind the ad deserves
(09:47):
a good deal of credit for that, but the biggest
portion belongs to the one and only Clara Peller. But
I'm Gay Lousier and hopefully you now know a little
more about his Street today than you did yesterday. You
can learn even more about history by following us on Twitter, Facebook,
(10:07):
and Instagram at t d I HC Show, and if
you have any comments or suggestions or comments on burger
size or the lack thereof, you can send them my
way at this Day at I heart media dot com.
Thanks to Chandler Mays for producing the show, and thank
you for listening. I'll see you back here again tomorrow
(10:30):
for another day in History class. For more podcasts from
my Heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
This Day in History Class is a production of I
Heart Radio. Hello and Welcome to This Day in History Class,
a show for those interested in the big and small
moments of history. I'm Gabe Louzier, and in this episode,
we're looking back at a pop culture milestone of the
(00:22):
nineteen eighties, the time that Wendy's called out its competitors
by posing an age old question. The day was January ten,
four fast food restaurant chain Wendy's released its first commercial
(00:47):
featuring the famous Where's the Beef catchphrase. The commercial was
written by Cliff Freeman and directed by Joe Settlemeyer. The
ads signature line was delivered by Claire or A Peller
in eighty three year old manicurists turned actress from Chicago, Illinois.
Peller had been discovered three years earlier when she appeared
(01:10):
as a manicurist in a regional TV ad set inside
a Chicago barber shop. The agency behind that ad was
impressed with Peller's gruff attitude and unique voice, so they
signed her to a contract and later recommended her for
the Wendy's campaign. At the time, McDonald's and Burger King
(01:30):
were the undisputed leaders of the fast food burger market.
Both chains touted the size of their burgers, with sandwiches
like the Big Mac and the Whopper. Wendy's didn't have
a big name burger, but some of its products actually
contained more beef than its competitors. To get the word
out about their generous portions, the company commissioned a series
(01:54):
of ads suggesting that McDonald's and Burger King sandwiches were
really more on than Burger. In the first and most
famous of these commercials, which was titled Fluffy Bun, two
elderly women are seen examining a comically oversized Hamburger bun
from a fictional franchise whose slogan is Home of the
(02:16):
Big Bun. When one of the women lifts the top
of the massive bun, revealing a tiny patty underneath, that's
when Peller cuts in with her trademark line, let's take
a listen. It certainly is a big bun. Pits a
very big fun big It's a very big, puffy fun.
(02:37):
Where's the beef, John, Hamburger Places give you a lot
less beef on a lot of bun. Hey. Peller's line
was originally written as where is all the beef? But
it was shortened to accommodate the actress's emphysema, which limited
her ability to deliver longer lines. She was also hard
of hearing, so when she says her line in the commercial,
(03:00):
it's in response to someone off camera who cued the
actress by tugging on the hem of her skirt. Those
accommodations were more than worth it to acclaimed ad director
Joe Settlemeyer. He had already storyboarded two different versions of
the commercial, one with a young couple investigating the burger
(03:20):
and the other with three older men instead of women. However,
neither version seemed funny enough to the director. He even
shot the all male ad just to make sure, but
for some reason, having an old bald man question where's
the beef just didn't hit the right note. Desperate to
make the concept work, the director recast the parts with
(03:44):
three older women, and when Clara Peller exclaimed the famous line,
everything snapped into place. When the commercial premiered on January tenth,
it was an immediate hit, and Clara Peller became a
selet buberty overnight. The response was so strong that Wendy's
(04:04):
bought more airtime and kept the ad running for ten
weeks straight. In the meantime, they got Peller back into
the studio to film more commercials. She also made public
appearances at Wendy's restaurants and even did a tour of
TV talk shows. The commercial struck such a deep chord
with the public that it spawned its own line of merchandise,
(04:27):
including Where's the Beef? T shirts, bumper stickers, frisbees, and
even a board game. The pinnacle of the craze, however,
was when Peller recorded a Where's the Beef song with
Nashville radio disc jockey Coyote McCloud. Here's the taste, got
(04:48):
on got restaurant for bringing the film, and that's when
she step anybody hear me. Amazingly, the catchphrase took on
(05:14):
a life of its own. Beyond the realm of fast
food burgers, where's the Beef became a shorthand way to
criticize anything lacking substance. This was best exemplified during the
Democratic primary of the four presidential election. Democratic candidate Walter
Mondale used the phrase to condemn the insubstantial policies of
(05:38):
his party rival Gary Hart. During the televised debate, Mondale
leaned over and said, quote, when I heard your new ideas,
I'm reminded of that ad Where's the Beef? The cutting
remark cast out on Heart's new ideas, and Mondale later
secured the Democratic nomination. He wound up Loue using the
(06:00):
presidential race to Ronald Reagan that November, which led the
ads director Joe Settlemeyer to remark that quote, if Walter
Mondale could have said the line like Clara Peller, he
would have been our president. Of course, Clara Peller and
Walter Mondale weren't the only ones who benefited from the
Where's the Beef campaign. The year the ad debuted, Wendy's
(06:24):
sales grew more than ten percent over the previous year.
It's overall sales had risen to nine hundred and forty
five million dollars worldwide, an increase of over thirty one percent. Unfortunately,
all that success drove a wedge between the burger chain
(06:44):
and its biggest spokesperson. Peller was reportedly paid scale for
her first commercial, which was a little over three hundred
dollars per day at the time. She was paid significantly
more for the later ads, with Wendy's claiming to have
paid her more than half a million dollars in total. However,
Peller disputed that amount, believing she hadn't been paid anywhere
(07:07):
near her fair share. The feud reached its tipping point
in nine when Peller appeared in a commercial for Prego
spaghetti Sauce. The spot promoted a new pasta sauce loaded
with beef and featured Peller declaring, I found it. I
finally found it. Although Prago wasn't in the burger game,
(07:30):
Wendy's didn't like the implication that the beef could be
found in someone else's product. William Welter, the executive vice
president of marketing for Wendy's, said that the Prego commercial
quote infers that Clara found the beef at somewhere other
than Wendy's restaurants. Unfortunately, Clara's appearance in the ads makes
(07:53):
it extremely difficult for her to serve as a credible
spokesperson for our products. Clara Peller never worked for Wendy's again,
but she continued to enjoy her new found fame. Over
the next two years. She did numerous interviews and TV appearances,
including a cameo on Saturday Night Live and a bizarre
(08:15):
gig as the guest timekeeper for a match at WrestleMania two.
The actress passed away on August eleventh, nineteen eighty seven,
at the age of eighty five. Her obituary in the
Chicago Tribune included an ironic parting shot at Peller's one
time employer. Apparently, she frequently met her friends for morning
(08:39):
coffee at her local McDonald's. As for Wendy's, it saw
five years of declining sales after the Whares the Beef
campaign ended. The chain eventually rebounded with a new ad
campaign starring its founder Dave Thomas, but none of the
company's slogans ever topped the popular larity of Where's the Beef.
(09:02):
It's shadow looms so large that Wendy's has actually brought
the phrase back twice, first inleven and then again in
when supply shortages caused by COVID nineteen made beef hard
to come by in some areas. Neither revival left much
of an impact, as it's just not the same without
(09:23):
Clara Peller there to reprise her role, but the original
commercial still stands as one of the most successful and
enduring ads of the twenty first century. It turned Wendy's
into the third largest burger chain in the world and
created one of the most unexpected pop culture crazes of
the nineteen eighties. The creative team behind the ad deserves
(09:47):
a good deal of credit for that, but the biggest
portion belongs to the one and only Clara Peller. But
I'm Gay Lousier and hopefully you now know a little
more about his Street today than you did yesterday. You
can learn even more about history by following us on Twitter, Facebook,
(10:07):
and Instagram at t d I HC Show, and if
you have any comments or suggestions or comments on burger
size or the lack thereof, you can send them my
way at this Day at I heart media dot com.
Thanks to Chandler Mays for producing the show, and thank
you for listening. I'll see you back here again tomorrow
(10:30):
for another day in History class. For more podcasts from
my Heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
This Day in History Class News
Host
Gabe Luzier
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