“WHERE’S THE BEEF?” LADY (1984)
Company: Wendy’s
Shtick: When a trio of elderly patrons of a fictional Wendy’s competitor receives their order, the three are presented with a comically outsize hamburger bun housing a minuscule patty. It’s at this point that 83-year-old Clara Peller utters, for better or worse, what was arguably the most famous and most representative phrase of the decade: “Where’s the beef?”
Fun Fact: Wendy’s sales increased 31 percent over the following year almost entirely on Peller’s hunched back. The former beautician died three years later.
