Want a SpielBurger? Carl’s Jr. chain named a burger after Steven Spielberg

Josefin Dolsten
Published March 27, 2018

Steven Spielberg

Steven Spielberg at the American Film Institute’’s 44th Life Achievement Award Gala Tribute show to John Williams at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, June 9, 2016. (Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Turner)

(JTA) — Looking for a new way to honor Steven Spielberg, besides buying movie tickets? Try eating some sliders.

The Carl’s Jr. fast food chain is paying tribute to the Jewish film legend by renaming its mini hamburger, currently called the Charbroiled Slider, as the SpielBurger, the restaurant announced on Monday. The stunt comes in advance of Spielberg’s latest film “Ready Player One,” which opens on Thursday.

“Carl’s Jr. fans are huge movie buffs, so we wanted to pay homage,” Jeff Jenkins, the chief marketing officer for CKE Restaurants Holdings, which owns both Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s, told USA Today.

Sadly, the SpielBurger name will only show up on social media through late April, and Carl’s Jr. won’t change its signs in its actual restaurants, USA Today reported.

The mini burger retails for $1 at the chain’s 1,630 locations, which are mostly found in the west and southwest United States and Canada.

A short video announcing the burger’s release uses imagery from “Ready Player One.”

“Spielberg hasn’t signed off yet, but we assume he’s cool with it,” the chain said in its announcement.

Until recently, Carl Jr.’s was known for ads featuring scantily clad women, but last year it said it was changing its strategy in order to appeal to a wider audience.

Jenkins told USA Today that he was not worried that the name SpielBurger might play on stereotypes about Jewish names. The ride sharing company Uber received criticism last year after it was revealed it had an internal group for Jewish employees called “Jewbers.”

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