Carl's Jr. is marking its 85th anniversary with a consumer-facing video contest that puts an $85,000 grand prize behind user-generated content, a tactic the QSR segment has increasingly used to drive social-media impressions at lower production cost than traditional agency spots.
The CKE Restaurants Holdings brand opened submissions July 20 and will accept entries through Aug. 7, 2026. Participants must post an original 30- to 60-second video to TikTok, Instagram Reels, or YouTube Shorts, tag @CarlsJr, and use the hashtags #MyCarlsJrAd and #Carls85th. The contest is open to U.S. residents 18 and older, excluding Florida, New York, and Rhode Island per state promotional-law requirements.
The Prize Structure
Finalists will be announced on or around Aug. 23 and seeded into what the brand calls "The Carl's Creative Bracket" — a head-to-head voting format hosted on the chain's social channels. The eventual grand prize winner, announced on or around Aug. 28, receives $85,000 cash; second-place, third-place, and five runner-up winners are also named, though prize amounts for those tiers were not disclosed. Judging combines total audience engagement with scores from a Carl's Jr. selection committee, giving the brand editorial control over the final outcome. The winning entry may be featured across Carl's Jr.'s owned channels, paid media, and other promotional placements — effectively granting the chain licensed content at a fraction of typical production spend.
Marketing Context for Operators
"For 85 years, our fans have been the real stars," said Burge Diemer, chief marketing officer at Carl's Jr. "This contest is designed to celebrate the people who have helped shape Carl's Jr. into what it is today."
The UGC-as-advertising model has gained traction across the burger segment as chains look to cut creative overhead while boosting organic reach. For a heavily franchised system like Carl's Jr. — which operates more than 1,000 U.S. units and has a presence in 24 countries as part of CKE's roughly 3,600-unit portfolio spanning Carl's Jr. and Hardee's — brand awareness spend carries direct implications for franchisee-level traffic and same-store sales performance. Social-media contests of this scale also serve a secondary function: building the loyalty funnel. The brand is simultaneously directing entrants and followers toward its My Rewards loyalty program and mobile app, channels that generate first-party consumer data increasingly valuable in a post-cookie digital advertising environment.
The contest arrives at a moment when QSR operators broadly are leaning on value messaging and emotional brand equity to defend traffic against persistent consumer spending pressure. CKE's decision to invest $85,000 in a fan-driven campaign — rather than a traditional LTO or discount promotion — reflects a calculated bet that milestone storytelling converts to brand preference more efficiently than short-term price cuts. Whether the bracket-style voting mechanic drives measurable engagement lift will be a metric worth tracking as the Aug. 28 winner announcement approaches.
For franchise development context and broader QSR marketing trends, the campaign also signals how legacy burger brands are repositioning anniversary milestones as full marketing properties rather than one-day social posts.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
