Carl's Jr. Cooks Up Gladiator vs. Clown Combat in the Colosseum

Silly Roman spectacle from Erich & Kallman

We’ve often wondered: If a heavily-armored, sword-wielding gladiator squared off against a frilly-costumed clown, who would win?

Carl’s Jr. answers that question in a Roman mini-epic devised by Erich & Kallman to hype the chain’s Angus Maximus 1/3-lb. burger.

The ravenous crowd screams for blood—or at the very least, ketchup—as the iron-masked warrior bellows and prepares to battle the motley fool.

The clown—clearly no stand-in for a rival McFeeder—looks… concerned.

There’s a twist at the end, harkening back to Carl’s famous Paris Hilton spots of yore…

So, he’s a she, the :30 embraces tech-generated stupidity, tweaks brand nostalgia and humiliates a clown. We’ll give that joint an imperial thumbs up!

The production merged live-action blue-screen techniques with AI—but the burgers and main actors, we’re assured, were for real. Arc Creative’s Robert Sethi directed the film.

“Carl’s Jr. isn’t interested in subtlety, and the Angus Maximus is confident and irreverent in a way that feels like the epitome of the brand,” says E&K co-founder and CCO Eric Kallman. “Through over-the-top spectacle, we saw the opportunity to turn a burger offer into an epic proclamation, reflective of the brand’s long-standing swagger.”

As for the big reveal…

“We were asked to incorporate a famous Carl’s Jr. bikini-clad woman into the end of the spot,” Kallman tells Muse. “We tried to do it in a way that was very self-aware and non-offensive, paying tribute to the trope without actually using any sex appeal seriously. I think we accomplished that.”

All in all, “the shoot was pretty straightforward,” he recalls, “and most of the fun came through the revisions in post. AI is so fast and a perfect fit for this idea.”

“When I started in advertising a spot like this would take many millions of dollars and many months. With AI, we were able to accomplish it for a fraction of the time and cost.”

“One example is that opening shot with the Carl’s flag. We were asked to incorporate some branding up front and created that shot along with a few other ideas virtually instantly. It’s really a lot of fun to use.”

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