BY OWEN MORRIS
Hardees is running a series of ads in which they serve their hamburgers at a fake high-end restaurant, charge more than double and record the reactions of diners who eat them. The point being that Hardees’ hamburgers are just as good as ones that set you back $15.
It doesn’t take an ad exec to realize that the “marks” in the ads are reacting as much to the restaurants' swank digs as they are to the burgers themselves. To test whether a normal person could taste the difference between the Hardee's burger and a more expensive burger, I recruited two people to be my own marks.
They were my triathlete friends Derek and Matilda. I chose them because I know they both love to eat but, because of constant training, never order greasy food from restaurants. Hence, they wouldn’t be able to guess where either burger came from.
To compete with the Hardee’s Prime Rib Burger I chose Houlihan’s specialty Tilamook Burger. I put both in identical boxes and surprised my two friends, who had just gotten back from a jog. They were starving and eager to participate.
Burger #1: The Houlihan's Tilamook Burger: ½ pound burger grilled medium on a whole grain bun with two slices of Tilamook Cheddar, bacon, onion, lettuce, tomato.
Cost: $13 (including one side and tip)
Derek: “Burger definitely tastes like it’s been out on a charcoal grill. Like a homemade burger. I really like the bun but I’m just tasting it and not the meat."
Matilda: "Bacon could be a little more crispy and the cheese is not as sharp as I like -- I like cheddar. The meat definitely could be juicier and needs more seasoning.”
Burger #2: The Hardee’s Prime Rib Burger:1/3 pound burger fried well on a ciabatta roll with one thin slice of prime rib, Swiss cheese, grilled onions and horseradish sauce.
Cost: $4.85 for burger only (a meal costs $6.49 and includes fries and drink)
Derek: "Interesting bread choice. Not as good as the whole wheat. This has a lot of flavor with the onions and the cheese. Almost tastes like a really high-end White Castle burger.”
Matilda: "That’s really freaking good. I’m tasting more the condiments than the burger. The onions are really over-powering but I love it.”
The Verdict:
Derek: "Burger #1 [Houlihan's] tasted more expensive but I like the second burger a lot better. If I had to guess I would say the first one cost $9.99 and the second one $8.99."
Matilda: "I agree that the second burger was better but I disagree about the whole price thing. I think the second one [Hardee's] would be more expensive because of the toppings and the fancy bun. The first one cost $8.99 and I guess $10.99 for the second one."
As advertised, the Hardee's burger managed to compete with a more expensive burger from a sit-down restaurant.
Upon learning that they'd both deemed the Hardee's burger better, Derek and Matilda were shocked. "I'm surprised. Genuinely surprised." Derek said. "It was a good burger but I wonder if I'll suffer more repercussions later from it than the Houlihan's one?"
I didn't hang around to find out.
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