Steven Spielberg Nixes Carl's Jr.'s 'SpielBurgers' Dreams
By Sandra Gonzalez
LOS ANGELES (CNN) - Carl's Jr. won't be serving any "SpielBurgers" any time soon.
Since Sunday, the restaurant chain has been touting a rebranded version of its charbroiled sliders called "Spielburgers," in honor of director Steven Spielberg and his new film, "Ready Player One."
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In a tweet announcing the effort, the restaurant acknowledged that Spielberg hadn't signed off on the idea, "but we assume he's cool with it."
Apparently, he wasn't.
On Tuesday, Spielberg dashed the fast food company's "SpielBurger' dreams in a video posted to the Twitter account for his production company, Amblin Entertainment.
"They're pretty good but I'm passing. Cease and desist. Can't do it," Spielberg said in the video. "Sorry, guys."
The director's response followed a brief statement from Warner Bros., which produced "Ready Player One," issued Monday.
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"Appreciate the #ReadyPlayerOne love but this is not approved," Warner Bros. said in a tweet to Carl's Jr's official account.
On Tuesday, a representative for Carl's Jr. acknowledged in a statement to THR that the "social stunt" was an attempt to "get the attention of Spielberg and his team to celebrate the launch of Ready Player One."
The representative also clarified that "SpielBurgers" are not a menu item at Carl's Jr. locations.
Carl's Jr. has not responded to CNN's request for further comment.
There were other indications the exchanges were not a stunt between Carl's Jr. and Warner Bros. Namely, none of the tweets produced by Carl's Jr. about "Spielburgers" were marked with indications that they were paid content.
Sponsored posts without proper ad labels are in violation of Federal Trade Commission guidelines.
Carl's Jr. first announced the name change with a video on Sunday.
The burger chain also sent a representative to the "Ready Player One" red carpet and directly to Amblin Entertainment's Los Angeles offices in an attempt to get the director's attention.
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