CARPINTERIA Calif. Not happy with the way Jack in the Box Inc. is lampooning the Angus burgers offered by Carl’s Jr., Hardee’s and several other chains, CKE Restaurants Inc. is fighting back.
CKE, the parent here of Carl's Jr. and Hardee's, reportedly filed a lawsuit in federal court in Santa Ana, Calif., on Friday, charging San Diego-based Jack in the Box Inc. with deceptive advertising for the chain's sirloin burgers. The TV commercials imply that Angus beef comes from a part of a cow with a similar sounding name – Angus minus the "g," CKE alleged.
The suit seeks unspecified damages and asks that Jack in the Box run ads to correct "the erroneous notion that all cuts of Angus beef are derived from the anus of beef cattle," the filing was quoted as saying.
Angus burgers are offered by Burger King, T.G.I. Friday's and the regional Shari's family restaurant chain, among others in the areas where Jack in the Box competes. McDonald's is testing a line in southern California and is expanding the trial run into the East.