"Where's the beef?" is acatchphrase in the United States and Canada, introduced as a slogan for the fast food chainWendy's in 1984. Since then it has become an all-purpose phrase questioning the substance of an idea, event, or product.[1]
The phrase first came to the public audience in an Americantelevision commercial for theWendy's chain ofhamburger restaurants in 1984. The strategy behind the campaign was to distinguish competitors' (McDonald's andBurger King) big name hamburgers (Big Mac andWhopper respectively) from Wendy's "modest" Single by focusing on the large bun used by the competitors and the larger beef patty in Wendy's hamburger.
In the ad, titled "Fluffy Bun", an elderly woman, played by actressClara Peller, receives a burger with a large bun but a comically small patty from a fictional competitor, which uses the slogan "Home of the Big Bun". The small patty angers the woman, who exclaims "Where's thebeef?"[2][3]
DirectorJoe Sedelmaier actually wanted Peller to say, "Where is all the beef?" but Peller was unable to say the original line due toemphysema.[4]
The commercial was originally supposed to star a young couple, but Sedelmaier did not find the concept funny and changed it to the elderly women.[4]
An earlier version, featuring a middle-aged bald man saying, "Thanks, but where's the beef?", failed to make much impact. After the Peller version, the catchphrase was repeated in television shows, films, magazines, and other media outlets.
First airing in 1984, the original commercial featured three elderly women at the "Home of the Big Bun" examining an exaggeratedly large hamburger bun. The other two women poke at it, exchanging bemused comments ("It certainly is abig bun. It's avery big bun. It's abig fluffy bun. It's avery big fluffy—"). As one of the women lifts the top half of the bun, a comically minuscule hamburger patty with cheese and a pickle is revealed (prompting her to finish the sentence "—bun." with a much more disappointed tone). Peller immediately responds with her outraged, irascible question.[5]
Sequels featured Peller yelling at a Fluffy Bun executive from his yacht over the phone and approaching fast food drive-up windows (including the "Home of the Big Bun" and a restaurant with agolden arch) that were slammed down before she could complete the line.
Later in 1984,Nashville songwriter and DJCoyote McCloud wrote and performed a hit song entitled "Where's the Beef?" as a promotion for Wendy's restaurants' famous advertising campaign featuring Clara Peller.[6][7][8]
The advertising campaign ended in 1985 after Peller performed in a commercial forPregopasta sauce, saying "I found it, I really found it",[9] a phrase alluding to the beef in the listener's mind.
There were many "Where's the beef?" promotional items, includingbumper stickers,frisbees, clothing patches, aMilton Bradley game,[10] and more.
In 2011, Wendy's revived the phrase for its new ad campaign, finally answering its own question with "Here's the beef".[11]
During theCOVID-19 pandemic in the United States in 2020, when stores were experiencing a shortage of beef, Wendy's revived the ad.[12]
To launch their new breakfast menu in Canada, Wendy's released a new advertisement campaign called "Where's the Bacon?" as a callback to the "Where's the Beef?" campaign. The new campaign is similar to its older counterpart, except it focuses on the amount of bacon in breakfastsandwiches rather than beef size.[13]
For the2023 Daytona 500,Legacy Motor Club driverNoah Gragson, sponsored by Wendy's, uses the No. 42Chevrolet Camaro carrying "The Beef" on the hood, and a video released by the team featured Gragson using the phrase in the promotional video.[14]
William Welter, the executive vice president of Wendy's International, led the marketing team at the time of the campaign.[15] The commercial was directed by Joe Sedelmaier as part of a campaign by the advertising agencyDancer Fitzgerald Sample. It was written by Cliff Freeman. The marketing and promotion campaign were created byAlan Hilburg and theBurson-Marsteller team under the direction of Denny Lynch, the vice president of corporate communications at Wendy's.
The phrase became associated with the1984 United States presidential election. Duringprimaries in the spring of 1984, when the commercial was at its height of popularity,Democratic candidate and formerVice PresidentWalter Mondale used the phrase to sum up his arguments that program policies championed by his rival,SenatorGary Hart, were insubstantial, beginning with a March 11, 1984, televised debate at theFox Theatre inAtlanta prior to theNew York andPennsylvaniaprimaries.[1]
Hart had moved his candidacy fromdark horse to the lead over Mondale based on allegedly superficial similarities toJohn F. Kennedy, and his repeated use of the phrase "new ideas". When Hart once again used the slogan in the debate, Mondale leaned forward and said, "When I hear your new ideas, I'm reminded of that ad, 'Where's the beef?'" Subsequently, the two campaigns continually clashed using the two dueling slogans, Hart frequently showing reams of policy papers and retorting "Here's the beef." Mondale's strategy succeeded in casting doubt on Hart's new ideas, and changing the debate to specific details, earning him the Democratic presidential nomination.[1]
