The phrase first came to public attention in a U.S. television commercial for the Wendy's chain of hamburger restaurants in 1984. In reality, the strategy behind the campaign was to distinguish competitors' big name hamburgers from Wendy's 'modest' Single by focusing on the large bun used by the competitors and the larger beef patty in Wendy's hamburger. In the ad, titled "Fluffy Bun", actress Clara Peller receives a burger with a massive bun from a fictional competitor, which uses the slogan "Home of the Big Bun". The small patty prompts Peller angrily to exclaim, "Where's the beef?" Director Joe Sedelmaier actually wanted Peller to say, "Where is all the beef?" but because of emphysema, that was too hard for her. The commercial was originally supposed to star a young couple, but Sedelmaier did not find the concept funny and changed it to the elderly ladies. An earlier version, featuring a middle-aged bald man saying, "Thanks, but where's the beef?", failed to make much impact. After the Peller version, the catchphrase was repeated in television shows, films, magazines, and other media outlets. First airing in 1984, the original commercial featured three elderly ladies at the "Home of the Big Bun" examining an exaggeratedly large hamburger bun. The other two ladies poked at it, exchanging bemused comments. As one of the ladies lift the top half of the bun, a comically minuscule hamburger patty with cheese and a pickle is revealed. Peller immediately responds with her outraged, irascible question. Sequels featured Peller yelling at a Fluffy Bun executive from his yacht over the phone and approaching fast food drive-up windows that were slammed down before she could complete the line. Later in 1984, Nashville songwriter and DJ Coyote McCloud wrote and performed a hit song entitled "Where's the Beef?" as a promotion for Wendy's restaurants' famous advertising campaign featuring Clara Peller. The advertising campaign ended in 1985 after Peller performed in a commercial for Pregopasta sauce, saying "I found it, I really found it", a phrase alluding to the beef in the listener's mind. There were many "Where's the beef?" promotional items, including bumper stickers, frisbees, clothing patches, a Milton Bradley game, and more. In 2011, Wendy's revived the phrase for its new ad campaign, finally answering its own question with "Here's the beef". During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, when stores were experiencing a shortage of beef, Wendy's revived the ad.
The phrase became associated with the 1984 U.S. presidential election. During primaries in the spring of 1984, when the commercial was at its height of popularity, Democratic candidate and former Vice President Walter Mondale used the phrase to sum up his arguments that program policies championed by his rival, Senator Gary Hart, were insubstantial, beginning with a March 11, 1984, televised debate prior to the New York and Pennsylvania primaries. Hart had moved his candidacy from dark horse to the lead over Mondale based on allegedly superficial similarities to John F. Kennedy, and his repeated use of the phrase "new ideas". When Hart once again used the slogan in the debate, Mondale leaned forward and said, "When I hear your new ideas, I'm reminded of that ad, 'Where's the beef? Subsequently, the two campaigns continually clashed using the two dueling slogans, Hart frequently showing reams of policy papers and retorting "Here's the beef." Mondale's strategy succeeded in casting doubt on Hart's new ideas, and changing the debate to specific details, earning him the Democratic nomination.
