Pink Star Fundraiser Back for Sixth Year at CKE Restaurants

CKE Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE: CKR) and its Carl’s Jr.^® and Hardee’s^® restaurant chains are once again in the pink, gearing up for another $1 million fundraising campaign to help in the fight against breast cancer.



“The Pink Star funds from Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s help us expand our National Mammography Program, which now reaches into 46 states”

The annual Pink Star campaign kicks off today at Hardee’s and April 28 at Carl’s Jr. and will run through May 18. To participate, restaurant guests donate $1 in support of the National Breast Cancer Foundation. For each $1 donation, guests receive a commemorative pink Happy Star to personalize and place on display in the restaurant; in addition, they receive restaurant coupons valued at more than $10 to use toward future purchases.


Now in its sixth year, the Pink Star campaign has seen amazing growth since the Carl’s Jr. franchise group, the Star Franchise Association, initiated it in 2005 and raised $175,000. Carl’s Jr. company-owned restaurants came on board the next year, and Hardee’s joined the program in 2007. In 2008, the Pink Star campaign raised more than $900,000. The $1 million mark reached last year – the fifth year of the campaign – brought total earnings to over $3.1 million.

There is little doubt that another $1 million can be raised this year.

“We set a lofty fundraising goal for last year’s Pink Star campaign, particularly considering the state of the economy, but we were confident and driven by our belief in advocating for an issue that affects our guests, our franchisees, our employees, and their families,” said Andrew F. Puzder, chief executive officer of CKE Restaurants. “We have as much faith as ever that we can again help to raise $1 million for a very worthy cause.”

The leave-behind piece combines Happy Star^®, which is the icon for both Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr., and the color pink, which has come to represent hope and awareness for those affected by breast cancer. All of the campaign printed materials are donated by Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s supplier SynqSolutions, Inc., of Atlanta.

The visual impact of the restaurants’ bright walls of pink stars, standing point to point, is intended as both a symbol and a reminder of how we can join together as a force to bring about a positive change.

“Fundraising begins and ends with us in communities across the country,” Puzder said. “We see this as a simple, visual way of sharing in something bigger than any of us and giving for the betterment of all of us.”

The funds raised through the Pink Star program go directly toward free mammograms for underserved women and breast cancer early detection programs.

“The Pink Star funds from Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s help us expand our National Mammography Program, which now reaches into 46 states,” said Janelle Hail, CEO of the National Breast Cancer Foundation. “The Pink Star campaign raises awareness of breast cancer early detection while providing needed mammography services for low-income women with no insurance.”