Carl’s Jr burger restaurant to open in Bateau Bay on NSW central coast
IT’S best known for its controversial ads. It opens in Australia for the first time tomorrow, and the complaints have already begun.
BURGER-MANIA is set to hit Australia again tomorrow, as the controversial American burger chain Carl’s Jr opens its first Australian store on the NSW Central Coast.
Carl’s Jr has set up shop in Bateau Bay near The Entrance, next to McDonald’s, and is offering a year’s worth of free burgers to the first 50 people through the door on Tuesday.
It’s a publicity stunt set to rival that of fellow US burger chain In-N-Out, which opened a four-hour pop-up restaurant in Surry Hills last month and sold out of product half an hour before the store opened.
The first burger fan has already started lining up outside the Bateau Bay store. Central Coast man Matt Elsey, 41, has been camping out since Sunday night.
“I got here about 9.45pm last night, and I haven’t slept yet,” Mr Elsley, a marketing consultant, told news.com.au. “I’m the only stupid one to line up for three days, so I’ll be hungry by the end of it.”
Mr Elsey is camping in his station wagon and says he’s been kept awake by construction workers making the final touches on the store.
“I live in the region and wanted to be one of the first Australians to try it here, because I have never had a Carl’s burger before — even one from overseas,” he said.
“I’m a big burger boy. I lined up for In-N-Out in Sydney a few weeks ago, which I love, so it’s very exciting to have an American burger chain on the Central Coast.”
SO WHY DID CARL’S JR CHOOSE THE NSW CENTRAL COAST?
Carl’s Jr, which already operates in more than 30 countries, has a huge expansion plan for Australia.
They want to set up 300 restaurants here over the next 10-15 years and are already advertising the opportunity to potential franchisees.
The Bateau Bay store’s franchisee Lindsey Brennan has a licence for 10 new Carl’s Jr restaurants across the central and northern NSW coasts. He already owns 18 liquor stores throughout the region.
Mr Brennan told news.com.au his stores will fill a “gap in the market”.
“We know the market and the people of the Central Coast. Bateau Bay has a vibrant shopping centre, the site is on the highway and it’s a family, holiday, beach region,” he said.
“After we get the Bateau Bay site up and running, we hope to get approval with the council for a Carl’s Jr in West Gosford, Tamworth and Newcastle.”
He says the “high calorie” burgers are marketed towards 18-35 year-old males, but there will be healthy options on the menu as well, including lettuce wraps.
“Carl’s has big, juicy American style burgers, and the Australian menu will have some slight differences to other items on the menu, like the ‘biscuit breakfast’ that’s available in the US. But the burgers we serve here will be identical to what you see in America,” Mr Brennan said.
Demographer Bernard Salt says although the Central Coast is typically a “retirement destination”, it attracts young people during holidays and weekends.
“They’re aiming for holiday makers,” he said.
Mr Salt believe the Central Coast location allows Carl’s Jr to have a “softer launch”.
“If you do it softly then you can iron out the wrinkles before you crank out the PR. If you’re coming from the US, you want to get your systems right first and then ramp it up,” he said.
Consumer psychologist Adam Ferrier, chief strategy officer at marketing agency Cummins & Partners, agrees.
“I find it an unusual decision to launch on the Central Coast, unless they’re using it as a test market to see how the brand goes there. I imagine it’s a logistical consideration that’s operationally-driven rather than a marketing decision,” he said.
AUSTRALIANS COMPLAIN ABOUT CARL’S JR ADS
Carl’s Jr is no stranger to controversy. It’s marketing material employs slogans such as “more than just a piece of meat’’,“it’s gunna get messy’’ and “eat like you mean it’’.
Paris Hilton and Kate Upton have worn next to nothing while starring in Carl’s Jr ads. A recent raunchy clip featuring model Charlotte McKinney was banned from the 2015 Superbowl.
Now a Carl’s Jr Australia ad starring local model Gemie Howe, which screened on Channel 10 after the Big Bash League during December and January, has been reported to the Advertising Standards Board.
“We’ve received 20 complaints about the Carl’s Jr ad, which had an M rating and was screened after 9.30pm,” an ASB spokeswoman said.
The advertisement will be reviewed at the next ASB board meeting.
When asked about Carl’s Jr’s advertising campaigns, Mr Elsey said he didn’t expect those in restaurant’s demographic would be offended.
“The ad obviously won’t offend too many blokes,” he said. “They’re not in-your-face campaigns. There’s no billboards hanging out on the coast. All I’ve seen is a few ads on TV but that’s it.”
He added: “It’s like anything, people have a choice to watch it. I think it’s a little bit more acceptable than it was five years ago.”
Mr Brennan says he won’t apologise for the ad.
“We take complaints seriously and aired a softer version of the commercial. We don’t apologise for it, we take complaints on board and react to it, but at this stage I am happy where we ended up with our ad,” he said.
“Men 18-35 (years) is the target market primarily, but our restaurant is a standard up from what’s out there. Our restaurants are for families and comfortable for women.”
Do you know more about this story? Email vanessa.brown@news.com.au or rebecca.sullivan@news.com.au