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The ad world’s hottest trend: hot hunks.

That’s right, sexy guys — not gals — featured in racy TV spots. It’s hunk-a-rama time in new or recent advertising from some of the nation’s biggest brands. On Monday, one more will enter the fray — Diet Dr Pepper — in a 30-second commercial with a new, shirtless hunk who, with a wink, lays claim to being the hottest of all of his hunk predecessors.

Wearing nothing but tight denims, newcomer actor Josh Button emerges from the ocean onto the sand and boasts that he is “really, really, really, really — really good looking.” The ad was created by the Los Angeles office of the ad agency Deutsch.

Behind all the heat: cool. It’s become culturally cool to feature hunky guys in ads, something even Kraft is doing with its Zesty line of salad dressing. After all, women still do most of the shopping — and advertisers are targeting them with these racy TV spots. It’s all about getting folks to first notice the ad from among all the media clutter, and then share the ad via social media.

“The idea is not to associate hot men with the brand but, rather, to get female viewers to watch,” says brand guru David Aaker.

One problem: The trend’s become a tidal wave. That’s when consumer interest tends to wane. “Seems like it’s time for a break from this approach, because the “surprise” factor is kind of used up for now,” says Allison Cohen, ad consultant and president of PeopleTalk Research.

Never mind that Dr Pepper is only too happy to jump in. That’s because, it says, it’s doing it with a wink. “We’re poking fun at ourselves and the trend of hot guys in advertising,” says Jaxie Alt, senior vice president of marketing at Dr Pepper. Even then, she adds, with a laugh, “Our guy’s the hottest.”

The company he joins:

• Salad dressing hunk. Kraft’s recent Zesty Italian dressing spot features a hunk who bares his chest when the grease from a hot skillet instantly disintegrates his shirt. Result: more than 1 million YouTube views in two months, says Karmen Conrad Sr., brand manager for Kraft dressings. One consumer even e-mailed Kraft that she’d buy it — if the “Zesty Guy” came with the purchase.

• Shaving cream hunk. Old Spice in 2010, put a shirtless man on a horse in its offbeat spot, which emerged as one of the most talked-about ads of the year and made a new career for actor Isaiah Mustafa.

• Cola hunk. A recent Diet Coke spot shows a shirtless hunk mowing a lawn while five female admirers swoon in the grass.

• Drain cleaner hunks. Liquid-Plumr got into the act with a spot for its Double Impact drain cleaner featuring a woman at the supermarket fantasizing about two ultra-hunky plumbers. She melts when one says, “I’m here to snake your drain.” And she ahs when the other adds, “I’m here to flush your pipe.”

Copyright © 2013 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

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That childish desire to celebrate your birthday every day is evolving into a multimillion dollar industry: birthday cake-flavored everything.

Some of the nation’s biggest — and smallest — product makers have figured out how to pack the familiar white cake and white frosting flavoring into everything from cookies to toothpaste to lip gloss to vodka.

At least 17 birthday-cake flavored new products have hit the market over the past handful of years vs. three the previous five years, reports research firm Datamonitor. Most have been ultra-hot sellers, with the exception of a birthday cake flavored yogurt from Yoplait that was yanked only when Yoplait’s entire Splitz line was discontinued this year.

The trend isn’t just being driven by kids, but by nostalgic adults who long for memories of times past, says Tom Vierhile, innovation insights director. Boomers, in particular, are enamored with birthday cake mania.

“Even as kids today act more like adults,” says Vierhile, “adults seem to be the same way, tapping into their inner child.”

Recent birthday cake-flavored stuff:

Ice drinks. Later this month, Coffee Bean Tea & Leaf rolls out Birthday Cake Ice Blended beverages. “It’s like cake and icing in a cup,” says Michelle Stene, director of product development. The company revised the flavor 35 times before they nailed it, she says.

Vodka. Looking for a new, indulgent flavor, spirits maker Beam rolled out Pinnacle Cake Vodka two years ago. Sales took off, and it’s soon to expand the line to Strawberry Shortcake, says Deb Boyda, general manager at Beam Global Spirits & Wine. “Pinnacle lets you have your cake and drink it, too.”

Cookies. To celebrate Oreo turning 100 last year, Mondelez introduced a limited-time Birthday Cake Oreo — with the white filling in a birthday cake flavor, says Janda Lukin, brand director for Oreo.

Ice Cream. Will the birthday cake novelty work for frozen novelties? Unilever hopes so, with the introduction this spring of Good Humor Birthday Cake bars. “Our technology even mimics the porous texture of cake when you bite into the bar,” says Nick Soukas, director of ice cream

Peeps. Just Born, maker of Peeps, tested Party Cake Peeps in Walmart stores at Easter, and they were so popular they’ll go national next Easter, says spokesman Matthew J. Pye.

Protein powder. Birthday cake is the third best-selling of 11 flavors of protein powder sold by SDC Nutrition. “If you could eat cake and lose weight,” proposes Devenee Schumacher, director of marketing, “isn’t that the best of both worlds?”

Toothpaste. Novelty product maker Archie McPhee’s Cupcake Toothpaste hit the market in 2011. Spokesman David Wahl says one dad e-mailed his kid’s comments to the company: “He says it isn’t like he’s brushing his teeth anymore — he’s frosting them.”

Copyright © 2013 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

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Taco Bell has figured out yet another weird way to make a taco: squish it in a waffle.

For several weeks, the nation’s largest Mexican fast-food chain has been testing a so-called Waffle Taco at a handful of locations in Southern California. No, it’s not made with beef, beans and lettuce, but with a scrambled egg, a sausage patty and syrup – plopped inside a waffle folded and served to look like a taco. It sells for 89 cents.

The move comes at a time when breakfast is one of the few growth categories in all of fast food, and not much more than a year after Taco Bell’s new-product gurus shifted into overdrive with the roll-out of its wildly popular Doritos Locos Taco.

Until now, Taco Bell has been absolutely mum on the Waffle Taco. But it’s generating a powerful social-media life, which started with a single Instagram posting. If the current test is a hit, “we’ll roll it out to all of our restaurants that serve breakfast,” spokesman Rob Poetsch wrote to USA TODAY in an e-mail.

While the Waffle Taco will initially raise eyebrows, it may ultimately be a dud, predicts Andrew Smith, a culinary historian and author of Fast Food and Junk Food: An Encyclopedia of What We Love to Eat. “It’s really just breakfast with a taco name,” he says. “What’s so taco-ish about that?”

It also may not be entirely original. While there’s no Waffle Taco at any major chain, several are selling or have sold various versions of waffle sandwiches, including McGriddles at McDonalds, waffle breakfast sandwiches at Dunkin’ Donuts and southern California-based Jack in the Box, which launched its waffle breakfast sandwich last summer.

The Jack in the Box version is made with a fried egg, American cheese and a sausage patty and was introduced as a limited-time offer, says spokesman Brian Luscomb. “But it proved to be so popular among our guests that we added it to our permanent menu,” he says.

Chains rarely do this with limited-time products unless they’re instant hits. Jack in the Box also sells its waffle sandwich all day and night — not just at breakfast.

Behind Taco Bell’s Waffle Taco test is attempt to make a mark in the competitive breakfast arena, where it is slowly trying to expand nationally. The ultimate aim is to put out enough creative items that it can compete against breakfast kingpin McDonald’s.

If nothing else, the Waffle Taco could move the needle in the Southern California market, suggests Smith, the food historian. “In California, anything named ‘taco’ would probably sell better at breakfast than anything not named ‘taco.’ “

Poetsch says that the Waffle Taco is one of many innovations that Taco Bell is exploring at breakfast. “We’re pleased with the initial reaction from our customers,” he says.

Meanwhile, the folks at Jack in the Box are all smiles. “We’re not sure what inspired them to ‘ideate’ their new taco,” says Luscomb, “unless they tried our waffle breakfast sandwich.”

Copyright © 2013 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

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McRib’s got a new McRival.

Burger King on Thursday will unveil its 2013 summer menu plans, highlighted by a new, limited-time BK Rib Sandwich, which is boneless like McRib — has a tangy sauce and comes with sweet bread and butter pickles. It will be sold nationally beginning May 21.

BK’s other summer roll-outs include a return of Memphis Pulled Pork sandwiches, a line of Carolina BBQ sandwiches and sweet potato fries. It also will introduce a new BBQ Chicken Salad and line of Oreo-infused desserts. All of the products, including the rib sandwich, will be available only though the summer.

The move comes at a time when industry players like Burger King are increasingly taking on McDonald’s in product innovation. Now, Burger King is even aiming for Mickey D’s piece of the rib sandwich market — whose fans can be fiercely loyal. “That McDonald’s has been bringing back McRib for 32 years tells you it’s popular and important,” says Scott Hume, editor of BurgerBusiness.

For Burger King, which has pushed hard on the product innovation button the past couple of years, the move into a boneless, rib sandwich and other pork products is being driven by two things: consumer demand and commodity prices.

“Our guests have grown to look for a variety of options,” says Eric Hirschhorn, vice president of global innovation. “It’s not just about beef anymore, but other proteins like chicken and turkey and pork.”

Millennials, in particular, are attracted to robust and regional flavor offerings, he says. And younger consumers have traditionally made up a big portion of BK customers.

The rib sandwich, which has been 10 months in the making, was tested in Shreveport, La., and sold “extremely well,” Hirschhorn says. The recommended price, which will vary by market, is $3.49 a la carte and $5.59 as a meal — with fries and soft drink.

Burger King will soon begin heavily marketing the new sandwich — and the entire summer menu — under the “taste is king” slogan.

Back in 2010, Burger King briefly sold an on-the-bone rib item: Fire-Grilled Ribs. But because the product was so pricey — nearly $9 in some markets — it didn’t sell in large volume. Now, BK executives are convinced they’ve not only got the right product but the right place to cook it: on their open-flame grills.

Executives at McDonald’s don’t sound particularly concerned. “We know our customers love McRib and we won’t disappoint them,” says spokeswoman Danya Proud. “It will be returning.” She declined to say when.

Hume, the blogger, says McDonald’s need not fret. “I think McRib has such loyal fans that no one else’s rib sandwich will hurt it, even if Burger King’s is really good.”

Copyright © 2013 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

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Every summer, like capitalistic clockwork, superhero movies hit the big screen, and their merchandise fills store shelves faster than a speeding bullet.

This summer, however, a funny thing is happening at Target stores nationally: Gobs of summer-themed superhero merchandise will show up beginning Monday — from beach towels that double as capes to sand toys that form Metropolis shapes — but without the slick movie tie-ins.

Sure, there are plenty of summer superhero movies on tap that will have product tie-ins– such as the already-released Iron Man 3 and the soon-to-be-released Man of Steel. But retailers know they no longer need blockbusters to make the now-natural superhero link with summer. That’s why Target will sell more than 50 summer-theme products — aimed at all ages — in its partnership with Warner Bros., which is to superheroes what Kraft is to cheese. And none of the products are pegged to movies.

America loves superheroes. We are worshipers of Wonder Woman, believers in Batman and students of Superman, all part of Warner Bros.’ wildly profitable Justice League. The consumer products division of Warner Bros. — which, beyond D.C. Comics, includes everything from Looney Tunes to Harry Potter flicks — generated $6 billion in worldwide retail sales last year.

“Superheroes symbolize the human spirit,” says Mary McGuinness, cultural analyst at consulting firm Sputnik.

As a culture, “we seem to have a deep need to believe in heroes,” says Elayne Rapping, pop culture expert and professor of American Studies at SUNY/Buffalo. “They are reassuring symbols that somehow our complicated problems can be solved.”

For Target, it’s about turning cultural passion into profits. “We asked ourselves, ‘How do we make mom the superhero?’ ” says Greg Van Bellinger, director on Target’s Production Design + Development team.

Answer: superhero stuff with a summer twist.

Beach towel capes. Batman and Wonder Woman childrens’ beach towels that can double as capes.

Sand toys that form cities. Instead of traditional sand toys, these form city shapes so kids can make their own Metropolis in the sand.

Superhero garden tools. How about garden tools and garden gloves with the Wonder Woman insignia?

Superhero aprons. These body-length aprons feature the bodies of superheros from Superman to Batman to Wonder Woman — but the head, alas, is yours.

Copyright © 2013 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

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Hooters may have finally figured out a way to lure Mom in the door: Give her free food.

For one day, at least.

The chain famous for its waitresses in sexy uniforms has long struggled to attract female customers — particularly mothers. But this Mother’s Day, it hopes to lure mothers nationwide by offering free entrees — worth up to $10 — for mothers who bring a kid along and buy any drink.

Many restaurant chains have Mother’s Day come-ons — with restrictions — this year, like small cups of yogurt at TCBY; free slices of pie at O’Charley’s and Shoney’s; and free truffles at McCormick & Schmick’s. But very few are giving away the whole meal.

For Hooters, which is desperately trying to improve its food, its look and its image, the move illustrates what a 30-year-old chain must do that has fallen so far. Although Hooters has offered free wings on special occasions like Mother’s Day before, this is the chain’s first freebie offer on a breadth of entrees. This also is the first year the chain has sold entree salads — which it also hopes will attract some women.

One restaurant industry consultant who thinks that Hooters is demeaning to women finds the promotion to be pathetic.

“It’s like offering Weight Watchers customers a free meal with dessert at The Cheesecake Factory,” says consultant Linda Lipsky. “There are enough calories in most of their desserts for 50% or more of your daily allowance. Giving it free doesn’t make it any better.”

But Hooters’ marketing chief says the chain just wants women to see the that Hooters is not the big, bad wolf of dining.

“It’s not as diabolical as you think,” says Dave Henninger, chief marketing officer. “We know you don’t think of Hooters as a typical place to take Mom, but we want to make it more appealing for Mom to come in.” Hooters’ five new entree salads, all priced under $10, are one attempt by the chain to appeal more to women, he says.

That’s not been easy, although the chain has made some progress with women. Two years ago, just one in four of its customers were female, but last year, after the chain began to change its menu, that number improved to about one in three, he says.

Last Mother’s Day, the chain gave away free chicken wings to about 15,000 mothers. This year, it expects to give away upwards of 20,000 entrees to moms, says Henninger.

But some skeptics think that Hooters has a long way to go before it has any genuine appeal to women. “For a woman to walk into a place called Hooters,” says Robert Thompson, professor of pop culture at Syracuse University, “that new Cobb salad had better be awfully good.”

Copyright © 2013 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

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McDonald’s has turned to Twitter to say it’s hoping to do what “thousands” of people have urged it to do: a good deed for the McDonald’s-eating hero who helped free the Cleveland kidnap victims.

The tweet — which went out late Tuesday: We salute the courage of Ohio kidnap victims & respect their privacy. Way to go Charles Ramsey — we’ll be in touch.”

But already, in a world where almost every social-media action results in social-media reaction, there’s blow-back.

Even more than burgers and fries, perhaps the most important thing that McDonald’s sells is its image. That image became intrinsically linked with hero Charles Ramsey, when he told reporters that he was “eating my McDonald’s” when he saw kidnap victim Amanda Berry trying to get out of the house — and helped her escape.

As of late Wednesday, McDonald’s still hadn’t met with Ramsey. Even as some applaud McDonald’s for reaching out to him, others are condemning the burger kingpin for its tweet. “I call it news-jacking,” says Chris Ann Goddard, president of the PR firm CGPR. “They’re taking advantage of a situation to help their brand.”

McDonald’s strongly insists that it’s doing nothing of the kind. “Thousands of people have reached out to us expressing their sentiment for McDonald’s to do something for Mr. Ramsey,” spokeswoman Danya Proud says in an e-mail. “We hear them!”

One PR expert strongly agrees with McDonald’s. After hearing from so many consumers, “McDonald’s really had no choice but to throw themselves into the community and voice their support,” says Jim Joseph, North American president at the public relations firm Cohn & Wolfe. “I believe that taking your cues from consumers is always the way to go.”

Others say the McDonald’s tweet was a huge blunder.

“It opens up a can of worms,” says Ronn Torossian, CEO of 5W Public Relations. “I thought this was more fitting for a local restaurant chain than for a multibillion-dollar corporation.”

The McDonald’s tweet is a perfect reflection of what’s happening to marketing in America, says Al Ries, chairman of the marketing strategy firm Ries & Ries. “The social-media folks all jump on something without asking: Is this a good idea?”

McDonald’s, meanwhile, is keeping mum about the specifics. “Out of respect for the victims involved, as well as Mr. Ramsey, both McDonald’s and local franchisees will personally be reaching out to Mr. Ramsey directly,” Proud says.

But Ries insists that McDonald’s would have been far wiser to do something for Ramsey without making a public splash out of it. “Just because you do something for someone,” he says, “you don’t have to tweet about it.”

Copyright © 2013 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

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Consumers are giving the restaurant industry no choice but to let them eat cheap.

Late Thursday, value kingpin Taco Bell announced that it’s close to rolling out a national “$1 Cravings” menu — which it recently began to test in Sacramento and Kansas City.

Some prices on its current “Why Pay More?” value menu have crept up as high as $1.49 — and this $1 Cravings menu would ultimately replace it. All Items on the new menu — including Shredded Chicken Mini Quesadilla and Beefy Nacho Loaded Griller — are priced at no more than a dollar. There’s still no specific date for its roll-out, but Brian Niccol, chief marketing and innovation officer, said “I’m feeling good” that the line will go national.

The big restaurant chains don’t do value deals because they want to, but because they have to. Restaurant customer traffic continues to fall at many chains. Nationally, customer visits fell in March for the fourth-consecutive month, reports the National Restaurant Association.

Despite the wild success of its Doritos Locos Tacos, Taco Bell also will continue marketing its “Happier Hour” program though the summer, in which a number of food and drink items are sold for $1 each from 2 to 5 p.m. daily.

Among other cheap eats:

•Buy one, take one home. Through Sunday, Olive Garden is giving customers free entrées to bring home when they buy one from a group of five. The take-home entrée — which is served cold and comes with heating instructions — can be different or the same. The promotion has received the highest consumer survey ratings of any promotion in the chain’s history, says Jay Spenchian, executive vice president of marketing.

•$4 meals. After freezing menu prizes in 2012, this year, Steak ‘n Shake has raised the stakes, offering 20 different meals for $4. “We aim to shield our customers from inflation,” says Sardar Biglari, CEO of Biglari Holdings, which owns Steak ‘n Shake.

•$5 lunches — with dessert. Dairy Queen is offering the deal. “Consumers are still concerned about the economy, unemployment, underemployment and high gas prices,” says Barry Westrum, marketing chief at American Dairy Queen. “They want more for their hard-earned dollar.” With that in mind, he says, Dairy Queen may expand the $5 program to dinner.

•$8 large pizzas. Little Caesar’s is peddling its newest offering — a large deep-dish pizza for $8.

•$20 dinner for two. Applebee’s continues to offer its two-meals for $20 deal – with an appetizer.

•25-cent burgers. Earlier this week, White Castle was briefly selling sliders at 1960s prices: 25 cents.

•Free. Even as KFC heavily promotes its new “boneless” combo for $4.99, on May 6, from 2 to 4 p.m. local time, the first 100 guests who visit a store and say “I ate the bones” get a free piece of Original Recipe Boneless.

Copyright © 2013 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

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Prom has turned on a dime from an event once pegged to social etiquette to one now pegged to social media.

Socially savvy marketers are all over it. While millions of teens post prom pictures, marketers are posting prom deals.

Some of the most familiar names — from Olive Garden to Men’s Wearhouse to Chipotle — are pushing prom contests, specials and give-aways to attract teens to their Facebook pages, Twitter posts and most recently, Instagram.

It’s all about luring prom-goers inside their front doors during an especially free-spending time of year for many Millennials. The family of a typical high school prom-goer will spend an average $1,139 this year on everything from get-up to grub to limo rental, up 5% from last year, reports Visa. The cheapest and most efficient way to catch teen attention: social media.

“Prom is a moment to be captured, captioned and documented via social media,” says Jake Katz, general manager at Ypulse, a youth market consultancy. “It’s a creative palette from which millions of Millennials will generate content this spring.”

Few are pushing the social-media element harder than Olive Garden, which is embracing prom as a marketing tool for the first time — particularly on Instagram. It’s offering weekly $500 prepaid credit cards in a “Picture Perfect” Instagram contest. And Olive Garden’s message to teens via its Facebook page is this: arrive in prom attire through June 2 — and simply mention the word prom — and dessert is free.

For desserts that normally cost $5.95 to $7.95, that’s almost worth putting on a tux.

“We’re connecting with Millennials in a way they want to connect,” says Jay Spenchian, Olive Garden’s executive vice president of marketing. “Social media is word of mouth on steroids.”

Others are flaunting prom deals via social media for:

• Cool duds. Men’s Wearhouse is sponsoring a “Prom Nation” contest with prizes such as $500 toward limo rentals. It’s promoting via Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram. Why? “It’s our goal to create life-long customers,” says Sam Stogner, vice president of Men’s Wearhouse formalwear.

• Catered grub. Chipotle sponsored a contest that gave teens — who texted in the word PROM — the chance to host after-prom parties for their schools. Six students walked off as burrito-sized heroes, winning catered meals for up to 500 people.

• College moola. Duck Brand duct tape has its own twist on prom. It’s offering college scholarships up to $5,000 each for prom-goers who wear outfits made of Duck Brand duct tape to their proms. Winners will eventually be picked via social-media voting. The name for the contest, itself, has duct tape plastered all over it: Stuck at Prom.

Copyright © 2013 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

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The guy who created Twitter, Jack Dorsey, now wants to re-create the way fast food does business.

Not with big shots such as McDonald’s and Taco Bell, but with smaller fast-food joints — which make up about half of the nation’s 210,000 so-called quick-service restaurants, with sales exceeding $188 billion last year.

Today, Dorsey’s free mobile payments point-of-sale system, Square Register, will announce plans to update the business with special tweaks that will help restaurants improve order accuracy. Among other things, the iPad-based system will allow for improved customization — and even allow customer names to be attached to orders.

Dorsey says he plans to do for commerce — particularly, fast-food purchases — what Twitter did for communication: simplify it. He’s got the full attention of credit card giants Visa and MasterCard, which between them control an estimated 70% of the marketplace. New mobile payment options could help level the playing field.

“Twitter has made communication really easy, simple and free, and Square will do the same for commerce,” says Dorsey, in a phone interview. Ultimately, he says, his new point-of-sale system, “has the potential to carry all of commerce.”

The target: smaller fast-food operators who can’t afford costly technologies. The goal: convince them they can save serious money by paying Square 2.75% per credit card swipe, vs. the industry average of 4.36%. Plus, they don’t have to purchase pricey, point-of-sale systems that can cost tens of thousands of dollars. Those kinds of numbers can speak volumes in an industry in which profit margins are being seriously squeezed.

“There’s a tremendous number of fast-food operators dying to know how to make technology more affordable,” says Dennis Lombardi, executive vice president at WD Partners, a restaurant consulting firm.

Currently, some 3 million merchants in the U.S. and Canada are using Square — including 7,000 Starbucks locations. But Dorsey has big plans to expand way beyond that.

“This will grow just as fast, if not faster, than Twitter,” he projects.

He and other mobile payment providers have got believers, too.

Among them is the National Restaurant Association. There’s been virtually no real innovation in the payment technology space for more than 60 years, says Liz Garner, director of commercial and entrepreneurship at the restaurant trade group. “This will help change that.”

Copyright © 2013 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.