Did you catch that?

Today I'm celebrating the success of the Wendy's "Where's the beef?" advertising campaign

On this date in 1984, the Wendy's "Fluffy Bun" commercial first aired with the character actress Clara Peller, at the grand age of 81, who interrupts two other ladies making amusing comments and poking at a very large hamburger bun topped with a very small hamburger patty exclaiming, "Where's the beef?" Sequels featuring Peller delivering that line were also a part of the advertising campaign.

You may recall it cleverly being referenced in a televised 1984 US presidential election debate by Vice President Walter Mondale to ridicule his rival Senator Gary Hart's repeated use of the phrase "new ideas" as he leaned forward and said, "When I hear your new ideas, I'm reminded of that ad, 'Where's the beef?'" There's an article from the Washington Monthly about how that occurred. It's been said that the two campaigns continued to clash and Hart later presented his book to the press between two slices of bun. Even this week in FIRSTREAD on MSNBC, the argument from the Clinton camp about Obama's "talk vs. action" was referenced as a "where's-the-beef" mantra as in the 1984 race between Mondale and Hart.

That line became an instant hit. It is now used to question the substance of an idea, event or product. Did you originally catch that series of commercials in 1984? Perhaps you have actually used that catchphrase? It has been repeated in television shows, films, and magazines. That line should not be confused with other catchphrases like What's your beef? and I don't have any beef with that!

You can watch the first "Where's the beef?" Wendy's commercial below:

As posted YouTube by hmnsn1627

Today, I hope that you find something humorous or interesting in each of my posts in 2008 and won't be using that phrase about my blog!



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