Movie director Steven Spielberg has avoided a close encounter with a burger chain that decided to name one of its menu items a "SpielBurger."
Fast-food restaurant Carl's Jr changed the name of its Charbroiled Sliders to "SpielBurgers" in honor of the director's new movie "Ready Player One." It has posted a series of spoof videos on its Twitter page, referencing Spielberg movies such as "E.T.," "Jaws" and "Jurassic Park," and attempted to deliver burgers to his production company Amblin Entertainment on Tuesday.
It also tweeted "Spielberg hasn't signed off yet, but we assume he's cool with it."
But Spielberg responded with a 15-second hand-held video on Amblin's Twitter feed, stating: "It's recently come to my attention that Carl's Jr wants to rename the charbroiled sliders 'SpielBurgers.' And they're pretty good, but I'm passing. Cease and desist. Can't do it, sorry guys."
A Carl's Jr employee also put a note on an Amblin executive's car reading: "Hey Steven — let's talk SpielBurgers ASAP."
Warner Bros., the studio that made "Ready Player One," was also unimpressed, tweeting "Appreciate the #ReadyPlayerOne love but this is not approved."
Carl's Jr was obviously delighted, tweeting: "OMG Spielberg likes our Charbroiled Sliders! (He's not down with #SpielBurgers but we're fine with that)."
A spokesperson for the restaurant chain told The Hollywood Reporter: "SpielBurgers are not a menu item at Carl's Jr. locations. This was a social stunt from the brand to try and get the attention of Spielberg and his team to celebrate the launch of 'Ready Player One.'"
There are more than 1,200 Carl's Jr outlets in the U.S. and the chain was founded in 1941 by Carl Karcher.