# Why is it Hellman's in the East and Best Foods in the West? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 21, 2001, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-hellmans-in-the-east-and-best-foods-in-the-west/51098 "2001-01-21T05:02:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Whiplash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@Whiplash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whiplash)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2001, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-hellmans-in-the-east-and-best-foods-in-the-west/51098/1 "2001-01-21T05:02:05Z")
Growing up on the West Coast we had Best Foods mayonaise. When we moved to the East Coast the label magically changed to Hellman’s mayonaise. I know I’ve seen that on other products too … for instance, the commercials I see for “Carl Jr.'s” on the West Coast satellite stations seem identical to the “Hardees” commercials on the East Coast. But why is that? ---
**Author:** ![schief2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@schief2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/schief2)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2001, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-hellmans-in-the-east-and-best-foods-in-the-west/51098/2 "2001-01-21T05:19:08Z")
Well, their sites sure ain’t any help: From the Hellmann’s FAQ: > [@](#): > > **Is Hellmann’s available in the West?** > West of the Rocky Mountains our products are sold under the Best Foods brand name. And from the Best Foods FAQ: > [@](#): > > **Is Best Foods available in the East?** > East of the Rocky Mountains our products are sold under the Hellmann’s brand name. :rolleyes: [BTW, you’ve been registered since May 1999 and this is your _third_ post? :eek:] ---
**Author:** ![schief2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@schief2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/schief2)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2001, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-hellmans-in-the-east-and-best-foods-in-the-west/51098/3 "2001-01-21T05:32:30Z")
Also…regarding the similarities between Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr., it seems to have come about due to the fact that CKE Restaurants Inc., which owns the Carl’s Jr. chain, bought the Hardee’s line of restaurants in 1997. (Read more than you would ever care to know about the history of Carl’s Jr., including a bit about the takeover, right [here](http://www.ckr.com/about/history/history.html).) The Carl’s Jr. chain has long used the “Happy Star” logo, and it appears they decided to add that to the Hardee’s logo once they bought 'em out, and in general make the two chains pretty identical. I grew up with Carl’s Jr. around and had never seen a Hardee’s till I moved to the Midwest, and I remember a few years ago suddenly thinking “WTF? They’ve got the Carl’s Jr. star on Hardee’s now!” ---
**Author:** ![Badtz\_Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@Badtz\_Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Badtz_Maru)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2001, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-hellmans-in-the-east-and-best-foods-in-the-west/51098/4 "2001-01-21T07:19:31Z")
It’s been a while since I’ve been to a Hardees, so maybe they have changed, but last time I was at one it seemed more like a Denny’s with less emphasis on breakfast, and the one time I went to a Carl’s Jr., visiting an ex-girlfriend in Oregon, it seemed like a typical burger place (though a little _off_, which is normal for a chain you have never even heard of before). ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2001, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-hellmans-in-the-east-and-best-foods-in-the-west/51098/5 "2001-01-21T07:28:50Z")
I know that Dreyer’s/Edy’s has a similar west coast/east coast split, and I think so did McCormick/Schilling. I was once reading a book set in California, where the main character had grown up in California, and had never in her entire life been east of Nevada. She started talking about how she had eaten Hellman’s mayo since she was little, had always loved Hellman’s mayo, and could never eat any other kind of sandwich spread but Hellman’s mayo. I decided that the book hadn’t been edited well enough to bother to continue reading it. ---
**Author:** ![Demo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demo/32/8472_2.png) [@Demo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Demo)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2001, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-hellmans-in-the-east-and-best-foods-in-the-west/51098/6 "2001-01-21T07:31:00Z")
There was a pretty good thread on that here. [Hellmann’s Mayonaise and the Rockies](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=11763) ---
**Author:** ![NothingMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b77776/32.png) [@NothingMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NothingMan)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2001, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-hellmans-in-the-east-and-best-foods-in-the-west/51098/7 "2001-01-21T07:51:47Z")
along the same lines . . . Why is it “Krystal” in the south, and “White Castle” in the north ? The answer has to lie along the same line as above. One company owns two identical franchises. They advertise the same product to two general markets as two different ideas. So you get Hellman’s vs. Best Foods, and Hardee’s vs. Carl’s Jr. , and Krystal vs. White Castle : I’m waiting for the celebrity death match. - **NM** ---
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2001, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-hellmans-in-the-east-and-best-foods-in-the-west/51098/8 "2001-01-21T08:17:47Z")
My guess is that it has something to do with the _Condimental Divide_. ::d&r:: ---
**Author:** ![stuyguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@stuyguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stuyguy)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2001, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-hellmans-in-the-east-and-best-foods-in-the-west/51098/9 "2001-01-21T17:08:33Z")
Good one **Zen** , good one!