Donald Trump's nominee for Secretary of Labor is Andy Puzder, the CEO of the Carl's Jr. and Hardee's fast food restaurants. His selection is controversial not only because he defends paying his workers low wages, but because he's overseen an ad strategy based on sexually suggestive, scantily clad supermodels, such as Paris Hilton and Heidi Klum, eating hamburgers.
It's true that Puzder's ads don't cross the line into actual pornography, but that's an oddly low standard for a restaurant chain. There's plenty of unsubtle innuendo, such as in the ad for the "Bacon Three Way Burger" featuring plenty of winks and nods between Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Genevieve Morton and social media stars Emily Sears and Elena Belle.
But to get a sense of Puzder's confrontational and offbeat sensibility, without subjecting yourself to the objectification of women, check out this ad featuring himself, hoping to capitalize on a decision by McDonald's to discontinue its Angus beef burgers because it was too expensive.
A solemn Puzder sits at his desk, which is clean save for a Carl's Jr. Angus beef burger. Puzder reads tweets from angry McDonald's customers, describing the common emoticon as "a sad little frowny face that looks like it's about to cry." After taking a bite of his burger, he declares, "Nobody likes to be deprived of something they enjoy. So if you're wondering where the beef is, we have it."
Secretaries of Labor are usually sleepy bureaucrats who fade into background. Don't expect that to be the case with Puzder.
Puzder Pioneered Women Eating Burgers in Bikinis
"I don't think there's anything wrong with a beautiful woman in a bikini eating a burger and washing a Bentley or a pickup truck, or being in a hot tub. I think there's probably nothing more American," Puzder once told CNN. "I think our ads are very responsible. We're very careful in the ads. There's no nudity. There's generally not even men and women in the ads. There's certainly no sex acts."It's true that Puzder's ads don't cross the line into actual pornography, but that's an oddly low standard for a restaurant chain. There's plenty of unsubtle innuendo, such as in the ad for the "Bacon Three Way Burger" featuring plenty of winks and nods between Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Genevieve Morton and social media stars Emily Sears and Elena Belle.
Puzder Seeks Out Controversy
Puzder has, in fact, deliberately sought out controversy. In 2015, he relayed to the Associated Press that he once thanked the head of an organization that routinely sent blast emails criticizing his ads, "I said [to her], 'If you guys don't do an email blast with one of our ads, I run into the head of marketing and say, "What's the matter with the ad?"'"But to get a sense of Puzder's confrontational and offbeat sensibility, without subjecting yourself to the objectification of women, check out this ad featuring himself, hoping to capitalize on a decision by McDonald's to discontinue its Angus beef burgers because it was too expensive.
A solemn Puzder sits at his desk, which is clean save for a Carl's Jr. Angus beef burger. Puzder reads tweets from angry McDonald's customers, describing the common emoticon as "a sad little frowny face that looks like it's about to cry." After taking a bite of his burger, he declares, "Nobody likes to be deprived of something they enjoy. So if you're wondering where the beef is, we have it."
Secretaries of Labor are usually sleepy bureaucrats who fade into background. Don't expect that to be the case with Puzder.