Carl’s Jr. Commercials: Targeting Douchebags or Necessary to Avoid Being “Vanilla?”

Sarah Haskins, has a recent “Target Women” video over at Current which discusses the recent/current advertising campaign by Carl’s Jr.  She suggests that its  advertising campaign should be called, “Douchebaggery 101: Embracing your inner douche.”  She has both amusing and interesting points to raise in her video.  Check it out below: (H/T Adpulp).

My stumbling across this video was good timing, as I had just finished reading an interview with the CEO of Carl’s Jr. at Fast Food Maven.  Andrew Puzder, chief executive for Carl’s Jr.’s parent company CKE Restaurants, initially blamed the downturn on rivals selling cheaper, lower-quality food.  However, in his interview with Fast Food Maven he discusses a number of different issues about Carl’s Jr., including the advertisements.

Pointing out that the chain only spends $60 million a year on advertising while competitors spend hundreds of thousands millions, Puzder argues:

We can’t compete with those brands…with nicey, cutesy ads. When you see our ads,  you see them once, and you remember it.

When asked if he agrees with some critics who call their ads offensive, he responds:

Nobody is trying to offend anyone…But if we run vanilla ads, this company won’t exist.

Looks like Carl’s Jr. is standing behind their ads. What do you think?