The Case of the Contradicting Analogy

By Eric Seidel, CEO
The Media Trainers®

On the battlefront in the burger wars, Carl’s Jr. has fired a frontal attack on McDonalds. Big Mac meet Big Carl! Carl’s is heralding its newest weapon in a TV spot, saying it’s bigger (more meat) and a greater value, yet less expensive than the Big Mac:

In a recent CNBC interview, CEO Andrew Puzder of CKE Restaurants, the holding company for the Carl’s Jr. chain, was empahatic about Big Carl's price:

Now, consider this next bite because while he says both quality and low price are compatible, his analogy seems to say just the opposite:

Most assume Mercedes is a premium brand and that they would pay considerably more for a Benz than they’d pay for a Ford Focus. The analogy argues against Puzder’s message of greater value at a lower price, thus potentially confusing his target audiences, typically associated with Wall Street in this case.

The Street likes hearing about public companies making more money. Given his analogy, some may be left wondering if the Big Carl is comparable to a Mercedes, and the Big Mac is akin to a Ford Focus, why isn’t Carl’s Jr. able to charge more, and get it.