Hamburger Hop

Welcome to another Way-Out Wednesday!



Today's vintage pick is like last week's, where it isn't exactly "way-out", wacky, yes, but not bizarre. But it did bring back awesome memories of being a kid, and it's something most of you remember all too well. In fact, you'll probably roll your eyes and sigh, maybe even get slightly stabby when I say...

"Where's the beef"?!

Yep, an annoying but clever slogan for Wendy's hamburgers in the 80's. If you're under the age of, say, 30, you probably assume I'm talking gibberish again, but I'm sure everyone else remembers the old, like really old ladies who starred in the commercial. Funny thing is, the commercial only ran for about a year, from 1984-85, and we still talk about it. Compared to most modern "sex sells" advertising, the Wendy's commercial is lame in contrast, putting 3 old bats who could double for the Crypt Keeper yelling about "big fluffy buns" and demanding to know where the beef is. It worked in the 80's, though, and you gotta give the ad execs props for coming up with a clever catch phrase that lasted a helluva lot longer than the commercial (or the old ladies) did.

There were quite a few different "where's the beef" commercials with the ancient broads, but here's the classic one:



Did you know there was actual "Where's the Beef?" merchandise to buy? I had *no* idea! Then again, I was only about 8 or 9 at the time, so what did I know? I can barely remember yesterday, let alone 25 years ago. So imagine my- and it happened in this order- shock! glee! disgust! (at the image of old bat) and more glee!- when I came across this little vintage treat of pop culture:



Why yes! It is a potholder and oven mitt set featuring the catch phrase and old lady who made it popular, thank you for asking. I'm both horrified and intrigued by this thing and I both want to buy it and run away from it at the same time. It's available from Nick and Nessie's on etsy for a mere 15 clams!


And for your added Way-Out Wednesday pleasure, here's a hot and sexy pic of the lady who made her fortune from shouting a line. And then died. True story, she passed away in 1987, 2 short years after she was rocketed to fame, fortune and oiled-up pool boys named Rico. So that's both sad and not at all surprising.







"Hamburger Hop" by Johnny Hicks.