Carl's Jr. is marking its 85th anniversary by handing one fan $85,000 to create the chain's next standout ad — a contest that doubles as a loyalty and brand-engagement play for the CKE Restaurants Holdings brand, which operates more than 1,000 U.S. locations and has a presence in 24 countries.

How the Contest Works

Submissions open July 20 and close Aug. 7, 2026. Entrants post an original 30-to-60-second video to TikTok, Instagram Reels, or YouTube Shorts, tag @CarlsJr, and include the hashtags #MyCarlsJrAd and #Carls85th. One entry per person; open to U.S. residents 18 and older, excluding Florida, New York, and Rhode Island. The winning video may be featured across Carl's Jr. social channels, website, and paid media.

Ten finalists will be seeded into "The Carl's Creative Bracket," a head-to-head voting experience on Carl's Jr.'s social platforms, on or around Aug. 23. The grand prize winner — determined by a combination of audience engagement and a Carl's Jr. selection committee — will be announced Aug. 28 and awarded $85,000 cash. Second- and third-place winners and five runners-up will also be recognized, though prize amounts beyond the grand prize were not detailed in the official rules.

Brand and Loyalty Context

"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 promotion runs alongside Carl's Jr.'s My Rewards loyalty program, which the chain is actively promoting through its app. Tying a high-profile sweepstakes to loyalty enrollment is a tactic QSR operators have leaned into heavily as digital engagement becomes central to traffic strategy — a pattern convenience-channel foodservice operators are watching closely as QSR-at-cstore competition intensifies.

For CKE as a whole, the stakes extend beyond a single brand milestone. The Franklin, Tenn.-based parent operates more than 3,600 franchised or company-operated Carl's Jr. and Hardee's restaurants domestically and across more than 35 international markets and U.S. territories. Consumer-generated content campaigns of this scale — where the prize equals or exceeds a mid-market production budget — have become a measurable alternative to traditional agency creative, particularly for chains looking to generate social-media impressions without incremental media spend.

For c-store operators who carry Carl's Jr. or Hardee's as a branded foodservice program, the anniversary push represents an opportunity to align in-store merchandising and dispensed-beverage promotions with the chain's elevated social presence during the Aug. 23–28 bracket voting window, when consumer attention on the brand will likely peak.

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.