THE FORCE FAILS FAST FOOD; HAVE TODAY'S CONSUMERS HAD FILL OF GIMMICKS?

Byline: Jonathan Lansner Orange County Register

If ``Star Wars'' cannot move fast food, now what?

In recent weeks, numerous large chains admitted that what previously rang the cash register - glitzy, offbeat and rarely food-oriented campaigns - no longer work.

Tricon, owner of Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut, recently said its linkup with the ``Star Wars'' movie was a bust. Taco Bell's key same-store sales in the most recent quarter, for example, rose just 1 percent.

Carl's Jr. officials, too, acknowledge marketing ills. Racy TV spots, a high-profile campaign credited with pulling the Anaheim chain out of a previous funk, now fail to move enough burgers.

And while Burger King sold out its Teletubbies kids meal promotion at a record pace, its overall sales still run flat.

It's no surprise to John Gorman, the former Taco Bell chief, who says the big chains oversaturated the market with sales tricks.

As a result, ``it was just a matter of time'' before the gimmickry's effectiveness wore out, says Gorman, now a consultant from Yorba Linda. ``Basically, all a chain can sell is its food and its service.''

Now, aside from McDonald's, the chain that may have perfected the hype model, promoting food seems obvious.

At Carl's, lackluster sales are countered with aggressive pricing on premium burgers. Officials hint that the next wave of ads will emphatically push signature fare. And note that Carl's sister chain's latest sales motto is ``Hardee's: Where the food's the star.''

Meanwhile, Burger King officials are quiet about sales but say more promotions are in the works. Still, since marketing extravaganzas are months in the making, any decision to prune such spectacles wouldn't show up for maybe a year. But the Miami chain's last move, adding a bigger-kid meal package to its menu, also suggests that food - not sizzle - is high on the corporate horizon.

Then peek at Irvine's Taco Bell. Tricon wasted no time after trashing the movie tie-in before announcing that a Taco Bell entree - the chalupa, a fried spin on its successful gordita - will be in stores within two months. That announcement was unusual since the chain typically frowns on discussing products not yet in stores. Yes, food does sell.

Of course, gimmicks such as toys and contests previously created instant, but apparently not lasting, sales jumps. And edgy marketing - movie tie-ins or showy chain icons - supposedly differentiated a chain from its peers. Yet there's now evidence that selectivity is in order.

``You can't start taking toys away,'' says Kim Thompsen of Burger King's toy maker, Equity Marketing of Los Angeles. ``But people will be picking and choosing carefully.''

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Photo: (1--2--Color) no caption (Star Wars toys)