Matthew McConaughey’s Carl’s Jr. Ads Are ‘Naked Bongo’-Era Weird


UPROXX/Carl

Alright, alright, alright…it’s time for a Carl’s Jr. rebrand and they pulled out all the stops to advertise their western bacon cheeseburger. Trying their best to deviate from scantily-clad women eating gigantic burgers (two things that do not necessarily have much to do with each other) in the wake of the #meToo movement, Carl’s Jr. ads are going for more of a still-has-nothing-to-do-with-each-other but less mysogynistic-y route, using the voice of Matthew McConaughey to narrate videos of the burger flying through space as people’s eyes bulge out of their heads in delicious disbelief.

As if one commercial chock full of made up words with a Southern drawl slapped on them were not enough, the company released five ads in total, encouraging consumers to follow their stomachs and answer “the call” to indulge in a big ol’ burger as narrated by a good ol’ boy.

It’s random! Like a bongo-playing stoner!


The ads are completely absurd but they rhyme and Matthew McConaughey’s quirky persona and down home accent makes everything sound epic. So who’s really concerned with content, right? The graphics are also… something. Inexplicably space-agey — one part Carl Sagan and one part Grateful Dead. Looks like Carl’s Jr. really took the “space cowboy” theme to heart and, while weird and kind of pointless, it’s a helluva refreshing deviation from their usual babes and burgers approach.

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