Sound So Wrong But Taste So Right: Hardee’s Introduces New Biscuit Holes

ST. LOUIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Hole-y moley! Hardee’s® is adding a sweet and petite new item to its delicious line of Made From Scratch™ biscuits – Biscuit Holes. Rolled in cinnamon and sugar and served with icing for dipping, Biscuit Holes are now available at all participating restaurants. And, after struggling for months to come up with an appropriate name, Hardee’s is asking customers to names its holes with a multi-platform, customer-interactive promotional campaign. Both are sure to leave customers satisfied.

“We knew there would be a big market for Biscuit Holes when we learned that some of our biscuit bakers have been making a similar product for the rest of their restaurants’ staff and they loved them”

While developing Biscuit Holes, the menu development team at Hardee’s knew they had a winner when they deep-fried balls of biscuit dough, rolled in cinnamon-sugar and dipped them in icing, but they were stumped when it came to what to call them. The internal marketing debate over the name led to many colorful suggestions, which sparked the idea for the product’s advertising campaign.

“We knew there would be a big market for Biscuit Holes when we learned that some of our biscuit bakers have been making a similar product for the rest of their restaurants’ staff and they loved them,” said Brad Haley, Hardee’s executive vice president of marketing. “They really are irresistible and it’s almost impossible to eat just one. But what to call them was a big challenge. One of my favorite options was ‘Biznuts,’ a cross between ‘biscuits’ and ‘donuts,’ since the closest thing to them are donut holes. But there were many other suggestions that were very funny. Unfortunately, I can’t repeat them here.”

Name Our Holes

At Hardee’s, it isn’t just the menu items that are innovative. The introduction of Biscuit Holes will be supported by a multimedia, integrated platform including advertising, online, mobile and social media. Key among them is a new microsite called www.NameOurHoles.com.

The new commercials were produced by Los Angeles-based advertising agency Mendelsohn|Zien Advertising and can be viewed at the new Hardee’s YouTube brand channel and Facebook page. Some feature a man-on-the-street survey format in which people were asked what they would call the new Biscuit Holes. After hearing such suggestions as “B-Holes” and “Heavenly Balls” and seeing how much fun people were having with the task, the microsite was developed to let everyone try to ”name our holes.”

“We love to entertain our customers, but we also like to create ways for our customers to interact with the brand to entertain themselves,” said Brad Rosenberg, Hardee’s manager of digital strategy and marketing. “The NameOurHoles.com microsite does just that. Think you can come up with a funnier or more creative name than Biscuit Holes? We want to hear it. If it makes the cut, we’ll share it with all of our online fans.”

The microsite will add to Hardee’s already strong focus on the social media realm. After submitting a creative hole name to the microsite, visitors can then automatically Tweet their hole name to their followers or post it on their Facebook wall for their friends to see. Visitors can also make video submissions, some of which will be pushed to the Hardee’s YouTube channel where there are additional options to share with friends.

Beyond social media, Hardee’s will also launch a comprehensive synergistic mobile campaign complete with a mobile site developed by iLoop Mobile, ads running across the unparallel Jumptap premium mobile ad network and performance marketplace, and ad effectiveness study by InsightExpress. Customers with Internet access on their cell phones will be able to submit their Biscuit Holes name through a mobile optimized site of NameOurHoles.com. Mobile fans can also see product information and photos, watch the Biscuit Holes commercials through streaming video, share the site and even send personalized Hardee’s mobile greeting cards to friends.

More About Hardee’s Delicious Holes

Biscuit Holes consist of Hardee’s fresh, Made from Scratch biscuit dough, cut into round shapes like donut holes, deep fried, and tossed in a cinnamon and sugar mixture. They are offered in 6- and 12- piece orders and served with an icing cup for dipping.

Biscuit Holes will be sold at participating Hardee’s restaurants for $1.29 for six and $1.99 for twelve. Prices may vary by location.

About Hardee’s

Celebrating more than 45 years in the quick-service industry, Hardee’s Food Systems, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of CKE Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE: CKR) of Carpinteria, Calif. As of the end of its fiscal 2010 first quarter, CKE Restaurants, Inc., through its subsidiaries, had a total of 3,133 franchised, licensed or company-operated restaurants in 42 states and in 14 countries, including 1,205 Carl’s Jr. restaurants and 1,915 Hardee’s restaurants. For more information, or to find a Hardee’s near you, go to www.ckr.com or www.hardees.com.

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