Why did Wendy's fire the "Where's the Beef?" Lady?
Wendy's was doing well with their "Where's the Beef?" slogan, so why did they fire Clara Peller?
Recently I wrote about the Wendy’s SuperBar. The SuperBar was Wendy’s reaction to dwindling sales, which had been inflated by an ad campaign that took America by storm, “Where’s the Beef?” In a series of commercials and print ads, octogenarian spokesperson, Clara Peller challenged non-Wendy’s burgers size, asking simply, “Where’s the Beef?” The phrase spread like wildfire and would become an accepted phrase when one wants to question the substance of something. It was even used in by Walter Mondale in the 1984 Democratic Primary Debate. It was a great catchphrase, but they also found the perfect person to deliver it.
CLARA PELLER
Clara Peller was born in Czarist Russia back in 1902. Her family moved to the United States a few years later. The family moved to Illinois and that is where Clara spent most of here life, working as a manicurist at a beauty salon. Then in 1982, she was hired as a manicurist for a television commercial and something about her impressed the agency handling the shoot. She soon found herself working in commercials, TV, films, music. Eventually, Peller would appear on a board game and even a watch. She would pass away just 3 years later, gathering more fame in those short years than many lifelong actors.
Her biggest claim to fame was working with Wendy’s, and it seemed like a great deal for both parties for a while. Clara wasn’t exclusive to Wendy’s and would take work with other brands. During one of those commercials for Prego pasta sauce, she states, "I found it! I really found it," implying that Prego was where the beef could be found.
Wendy’s did not like this and decided to terminate their work with Clara and they dropped the campaign completely. It was not an amicable split, and Peller was quoted as saying, "I've made them millions, and they don't appreciate me." Maybe it was just bad timing, but for two years after they ended “Where’s the Beef?,” profits at Wendy’s went down. Which is a reason why we got the SuperBar.
(If you have retro finds you would like for me to share, I want to hear them. What old useful website are still lurking on the web? Some old TV show streaming online? Old tech being brought back? Let me know.)
ONE COOL VIDEO
While not as a famous as here original commercial for Wendy’s this ad might have been just as consequential. Possibly the original ad campaign had run its course, but we will never know. What we do know is when they dumped Clara Peller, things went downhill for Wendy’s.
Watch it to the end to see Peller holding a comically oversized jar of Prego Plus.
TEN THINGS RETRO
📼 Cassettes - Do you like audio cassettes? Appreciate their physical design? Then you will probably enjoy tapedeck.org. It contains hundreds of photos of cassettes spanning dozens of brands. Many, I have never seen before.
❄️ Otter Pops - Summer is over, but that doesn’t mean you need to stop appreciating delicious Otter Pops. Scott Serkland has a great idea, with just a little changing to branding, Otter Pops become Slaughter Pops, the perfect ice pop to have during the Halloween season.
📺 Television - Henry Winkler has been working for decades, but is still probably most famous for playing The Fonz on Happy Days. During his one-man show, Henry Winkler: The Fonz and Beyond, he shares his journey to landing this iconic role.
🎮 Game Consoles - The Game Boy was many people’s first portable video game system. The look of games on its LCD screen is burned into my brain, but what if the Game Boy had a CRT monitor? Amazingly, someone made this happen using parts from an old intercom system and a lot of hot glue.
💾 Floppy Discs - A lot of companies and large organizations still use floppy discs to run important systems. Two years ago, Japan decided it was time for the floppy to go, and they just recently announced that they are now floppy-free.
🕹️ Video Games - Wizardry was a ground-breaking video game that spawned many sequels and inspired hundreds of other games. Sadly, Andrew C. Greenberg, co-creator of the game, has passed away.
🐸 Muppets - On an appearance on The Arsenio Hall Show, the legendary Jim Henson talks about the universal appeal of Muppets. He then proceeds to bring out Kermit and Rowlf to answer questions. What is amazing is that on the same couch is Reading Rainbow star, LeVar Burton.
💡 Inventors - In 1932, Francis Jehl appeared in a movie where he talks about working with Thomas Edison on the lightbulb back in 1879.
⌚ Watches - The modern smartwatch is an astounding piece of technology, but people have been trying to make the equivalent of smartwatches for decades. Seiko tried back in 1984 with their UC-2000.
🍔 Food - Usually when I got my hands on a cooking toy, like the EZ Bake Oven I just ate the raw ingredients. But what if you asked real chefs to make real food using old food playsets?
SUBSTACK RECOMMENDATION
The Obsolete Sony Newsletter takes a look at the Evolution of the Cyber-shot Camera.
FROM THE RETROIST ARCHIVE
Let's take a moment to look back at four posts from the Retroist's past. I have been at this a long time.
One Year Ago…
☎️ The Bellboy and the History of Telephone Pagers
Five Years Ago…
Ten Years Ago…
🧜♀️ The McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish Mermaid
Fifteen Years Ago…
👁️ Ads that promise they can teach you how to Hypnotize People
Her presence in other commercials brought to mind her Wendy's campaign. They were getting free residual advertising as a byproduct. And they couldn't just be pleased with it.
Wendy's really did our girl Clara dirty. Karma came for them, it seems. I'd never seen that Prego spot. Brilliant.