The Goofy Wendy's Commercial That Majorly Boosted Sales In The '80s

In 1984, Wendy's released a memorable battle-cry of an ad that would define the chain for years to come. It was Super Bowl Sunday of that year when the "Where's the Beef?" ad first debuted on the airwaves (the chain celebrated the ad's 40th anniversary by putting it on YouTube). The commercial featured three little old ladies observing a burger from a place called "Home of the Big Bun" — the bun was huge, but inside, the patty was minuscule. That's when manicurist-turned-actress Clara Peller exasperatedly asked, "Where's the beef?", making Wendy's (and fast food) history.

And if it wasn't clear which competitors the commercial was taking a swipe at, the narration made it so, noting that Wendy's Single contains more beef than Burger King's Whopper and McDonald's iconic Big Mac. The ad campaign certainly did Wendy's a favor, catapulting the chain's annual revenue to $945 million in 1985. Beyond the increase in sales, Wendy's captured even more attention (and cash) with "Where's the beef?" licensed merchandise, including a headband, bubble gum packaged to look like burgers, shirts, a board game, and more (including a functioning trash can).

In addition to the loads of licensed ad campaign merchandise, "the beef" was truly all over pop culture throughout 1984 — which was certainly good for Wendy's business. There were several other "Where's the Beef?" sequel commercials featuring Clara Peller as her character angrily searching for the beef. One of them even showed a man (presumably management of the aforementioned "Home of the Big Bun" fake restaurant) smoking a cigar on a yacht labeled the "S.S. Big Bun," answering the phone to Peller's shouts (then falling over, defeated somehow).

The famous ad entered the world of politics when Vice President Walter Mondale said that the slogan applied to Senator Gary Hart's campaign ideas during the 1984 Democratic primary. And in the music world, Nashville songwriter Coyote McCloud released a catchy "Where's the Beef?" song that year on vinyl, featuring Peller exclaiming her famous phrase throughout the track. When asked why Peller is so effective in these ads during an NBC interview with Bryant Gumble in 1984, Joe Sedelmaier, the ad's producer, replied, "It's because she's real; Clara's Clara, she's not doing someone else." Apparently, she got too real, though, because in 1985, Wendy's fired her for "finding the beef" in an ad for another brand, Prego (which broke her contract with the fast food chain).