• by Teresa Buyikian , September 23, 2026

Carl's Jr. is taking a direct swipe at the “king” with a new campaign promoting its cooked-to-order Angus Maximus limited time offer.

The brand’s “Stealing the Crown,” promo calls on consumers to “hand over their crowns” in exchange for its Angus Maximus, the brand’s first LTO burger launch since it rolled out its “Burger Revolution” plan earlier this month. The $5.99 burger, which comes with two patties, weighs in at 5.7 oz, which equates to $1.05 per ounce, a price at which the brand asserts is of a “standout value and quality” in the QSR landscape.

Carl’s Jr.’s My Rewards members can submit “a picture of a crown, or their receipt from a royally disappointing burger from the competition,” by sliding into the brand’s direct messages on Instagram, “signifying their surrender to a better burger from Carl's Jr.”  Those customers will receive a promo code for a free Angus Maximus in the My Rewards app. The deadline is Sept. 25.

“Carl's Jr. believes the next burger battle will be won on quality,” said Burge Diemer, CMO at Carl's Jr., in a release. “A burger worth fighting for shouldn't be waiting for you in a holding cabinet — it should hit the grill when you order it. With ‘Stealing the Crown,’ we're inviting burger fans to surrender the crown and taste the difference for themselves with an Angus Maximus cooked fresh specifically for them.”

Carl’s launched its cooked-to-order Burger Revolution earlier this month, forgoing  “traditional holding systems that can compromise temperature and texture,” and to “begin cooking after a guest places an order.”

The brand has struggled as burger sales have fallen flat or experienced minimal growth across the industry. Carl’s Jr.’s more assertive marketing tactics come after the company’s system sales dropped by approximately $230 million over the most recent four-year period, including a 6% decline in system sales last year as the brand closed multiple locations, according to Technomic.