Checkers and Rally's

Checkers Drive-In Restaurants, Inc. is an American fast food double drive-through chain franchise in the United States. The company operates Checkers and Rally's restaurants in 20 states and the District of Columbia. They specialize in hamburgers, hot dogs, french fries, milkshakes, and drinks.

Overview

Originally separate companies serving different geographic areas (with Checkers serving the Southeast and Rally's serving the Midwest), Checkers and Rally's merged in August 1999. Generally speaking, the Checkers name remains used in the Southeast as well as the Northeast while the Rally's name remains used in the Midwest as well as California; the two brands have overlapped in several areas.[4]

The merged company is headquartered in Tampa, Florida. Most locations specialize in carryout service with drive-through and "walk-up" windows available, but no indoor seating, though some legacy Rally's locations in the Midwest retain dining rooms, as well as two Checkers locations with indoor dining areas in Clearwater, Orlando, and Tavares, Florida.

Checkers was founded in 1986 in Mobile, Alabama by Jim Mattei and went public in 1991.

Advertising and promotions

One of the first advertising campaigns by Checkers and Rally's from 1999 to late 2000 featured the slogan "High Performance Human Fuel". The television advertisements for the campaign were animated in an anime style, featuring a woman named Holly, in pursuit of fast food. The ads were created by Crispin Porter & Bogusky,[15] and illustrated by Peter Chung, who was also responsible for the animation of MTV series Æon Flux.[16]

In September 2007, ML Rogers, an advertising agency, won the advertising rights for Checkers Restaurants, and completely restructured the advertising campaign. Among the many changes is their new slogan, "little place. BIG TASTE", beginning October 2007.[17] In 2007, the chain used a character called Rap Cat, a stuffed animal cat who performs a rap song about the chain. The ad campaign became popular after it became a viral video on YouTube.[18] The company gave away paper bags patterned like a basketball jersey to be worn by cats, with slots to cut out for the legs and tail, and asked customers to post videos of their cat wearing it to a Rap Cat website. This received criticism from animal rights activists, though Checkers stated that the packaging was "intended only as a creative extension of our television campaign."[19][20]

In September 2014, they started to have a character called Mr. Bag, a talking bag who appears in the new commercials for Checkers and Rally's.

In September 2016, rapper and restaurateur Rick Ross stated his plans for a partnership with Checkers and Rally's, including ownership of a few franchises.[21] He opened his first franchise location in Miami in early 2017.

As of 2025, the chain offers various limited-time specials including meal bundles and discounts on select items.[22]

trade name	Checkers Rally's
type	Private
area served	United States
industry	Fast food Franchising
products	Burgers, hot dogs, chicken, fish, hot wings, french fries, shakes, soft drinks
owner	Checkers Drive-In Restaurants, Inc.
homepage	checkersandrallys.com
foundation	1986 (as Checker's) Mobile, Alabama, U.S. 1985 (as Rally's) Louisville, Kentucky, U.S. 1999 (merger of Checkers and Rally's)
founders	Jim Mattei (Checkers) Jim Patterson (Rally's)
location	Tampa, Florida
hq location country	U.S.
revenue	US$ 521 million‡R1R‡
locations	745 (2024) Checkers (472) Rally's (273)‡R2R‡‡R3R‡

Checkers and Rally's

Overview

Advertising and promotions

Security and privacy

External links

References