News

CKE Restaurants’ fan wins The Green Hornet’s Black Beauty

March 8, 2011

Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s, owned by CKE Restaurants, have named a grand prize winner of their “The Key to Black Beauty” promotion, which began in November.

Jonathon Hanington, a 27-year-old customer from Tualatin, Ore., has been handed the keys to Black Beauty, a fully loaded prop car from Columbia Pictures’ “The Green Hornet” movie.

The car was delivered to Hanington on March 4 at the Carl’s Jr. located in his hometown. Hanington, who is a full-time student and Army reservist, received the keys from Happy Star, the iconic mascot of Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s.

Hanington was joined by nearly 50 friends and family members for the delivery, along with Carl’s Jr. franchise owners Dan Gjurgevich and Joe Karcher.

“When I was notified that I won Black Beauty, I couldn’t believe it – I thought it was a prank call. It was unreal,” Hanington said. “I loved the Green Hornet movie and this car just looks so awesome. It’s decked out with realistic-looking prop machine guns and rocket launchers. It doesn’t get cooler than that.”

Hanington had the option to receive the car in legally operable mode, with no visible weapons, but chose for it to be delivered non-legally operable, loaded with prop weaponry from the movie.

The car, based on the Chrysler Imperial Crown body style, which was produced in 1964, 1965 and 1966, features top-of-the-line, stunt-ready (but nonfunctioning) accessories, including prop hood machine guns and front and rear bumper rockets.

“The Black Beauty is one of the coolest, most recognizable cars around, and we’re thrilled we were able to partner with Sony Pictures and Dr. Pepper to give it away to one of our guests,” said Brad Haley, executive vice president of marketing for CKE Restaurants. “The car is a true classic and a piece of movie history.”

The sweepstakes ran from Nov. 17, 2010 to Jan. 11 at Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s restaurants across the United States, and on the brands’ Facebook pages. Guests purchasing a limited-edition 42-ounce “The Green Hornet” collectors’ cup co-sponsored by Dr. Pepper received a unique code to enter the promotion or a complimentary code could be found online.

The entire promotion was part of a marketing partnership between CKE and Sony Pictures around the Jan. 14 release of the 3D action movie, “The Green Hornet.”