Show Notes Episode 397: All Bun, No Beef

This week Host Dave Bledsoe goes on a date only to have it end badly when he experiences a “Clara Peller Moment”. (He claimed it was a very cold evening.) On the show this week we head back to 1984 when America had our hearts stolen by a crank octogenarian demanding to know where the beef was kept! That’s right, we talk Clara Peller and Where’s the Beef!

Along the way we learn that despite not eating fast food for almost four years, Dave was somehow still fat! (He claims he was just “big boned", his latest date would beg to differ!) Then we dive right into the history of a totally different Dave, a Dave with a dream that did not involve a specific brand of Irish whiskey, Dave Thomas. We learn how Wendy’s went from a plucky upstart to the third largest burger chain in the United States. Moreover, we learn how Wendy’s had a plan to take on the Clown and King and become Number One! How? With the Platonic Ideal of the Little Old Lady. We chart Clara’s improbable rise from Chicago manicurist to national overnight sensation! (They were wearing her face at football games!) Finally, we discuss how it all ended over a jar of spaghetti sauce. (As these things so often do)

Our Sponsor this week is Meef, a meat substitute that is almost, but not quite, entirely unlike meat! We open with Clara Peller’s star turn commercial and close with Clare and Coyote McCloud demanding to know where the HELL is the beef!

Show Theme: Hypnostate Prelude to Common Sense

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Closing Music:https://youtu.be/bdq6TZwepg0

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Citations Needed:

FOUNDING WENDY'S

https://www.wendys.com/who-we-are-daves-legacy-founding-wendys

“Where’s the Beef?” The Story of the Most Famous Slogan Ever

https://bettermarketing.pub/wheres-the-beef-the-story-of-the-most-famous-slogan-ever-550d3f0c48c

FEISTY CLARA PELLER, 86; `WHERE`S THE BEEF?` LADY

https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1987-08-12-8703010403-story.html

Wikipedia: Clara Peller 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clara_Peller

Face the Nation

https://youtu.be/K6a-FLKMxUs

Clara Peller, the Actress In 'Where's the Beef?' TV Ad

https://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/12/obituaries/clara-peller-the-actress-in-where-s-the-beef-tv-ad.html

WHERE'S THE JOB? CLARA FIRED FOR MAKING SPAGHETTI SAUCE AD

https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-1985-03-23-8501110180-story.html

Uncited Additional Reading:

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/639775/clara-peller-wendys-wheres-the-beef-lady

https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1267167-clara-peller?language=en-US

https://www.discogs.com/release/9267805-Coyote-McCloud-Featuring-Clara-Peller-Wheres-The-Beef

https://www.campaignlive.com/article/history-advertising-no-182-clara-pellers-hamburger/1421235

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Where%27s_the_beef%3F#:~:text=%22Where's%20the%20beef%3F%22%20is,idea%2C%20event%2C%20or%20product.

https://www.wideopeneats.com/wheres-the-beef/

https://onlykutts.com/index.php/2021/10/07/wendys-wheres-the-beef/

https://www.yahoo.com/news/the-inside-story-of-wendys-wheres-the-beef-ad-140051010.html

https://www.tampabay.com/blogs/80s/2018/01/10/on-this-date-wendys-first-asked-wheres-the-beef/

http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2022/10/how-wendys-1984-wheres-beef-commercial.html

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