(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20081001/LAW066)
The sites, carlsjr.com and hardees.com, feature an enhanced "young, hungry guy's" dream bachelor pad, starting with a virtual, 3D living room landing page and a large, flat-screen TV playing Carl's Jr. and Hardee's latest television ads. A library of some of the brands' hottest historical ads is also accessible. Site visitors can now select a virtual roommate who will interact with them each time they login to the site. And because we all know guys like gaming, the site allows visitors to sign up for the "Burger Slayer" loyalty program, earning points that can be used to customize the look of the living room and eventually unlock "hottie" roommate options and other brand fan freebies.
"When we first partnered with Spacedog Interactive, now part of
Mendelsohn|Zien Advertising, to design and launch state-of-the art Web sites
for both Carl's Jr. and Hardee's in 2005, the sites were unlike anything
anyone was doing in the industry because they focused more on an aspirational
lifestyle for our 'young, hungry guy' customers," said
The living room landing page has been updated with 3D modeling as well as real-time day-to-night transitions. On the coffee table: a full meal from Carl's Jr. or Hardee's, which changes depending on the time of day visitors log on -- as does the scene outside the window.
The sites were designed by the digital division of Mendelsohn|Zien
Advertising, formerly operated as digital design and marketing firm, Spacedog
Interactive. Mendelsohn|Zien is the
Visitors to the Carl's Jr. and Hardee's Web sites can also explore and interact in 3D thanks to a partnership with ExitReality. The technology allows users to experience the traditional, 2-dimensional sites as 3-dimensional spaces and even convert their profile pages on social network platforms, such as MySpace and Facebook, into 3D environments. The ExitReality 3D component is available to download on the Carl's Jr. and Hardee's sites.
In conjunction with the launch of these new sites, CKE Restaurants has
partnered with Lionsgate for a promotion in support of their recent theatrical
release "
Aside from the new and improved interactivity, consumers looking for nutritional information or restaurant location will be able to easily navigate and access the information. Since the sites were created using the Ruby on Rails framework, the information is easily updated and can be customized for visitors wanting to gather nutritional information for each menu item or an entire meal.
About CKE
Carl's Jr. and Hardee's are wholly-owned subsidiaries of CKE Restaurants,
Inc. (NYSE: CKR) of
SOURCE CKE Restaurants, Inc.