“Where’s the Beef?” is arguably the most famous catchphrase concerning a fast food chain. Can you think of another that rivals Wendy’s ad from 1984?

There have been many iconic catchphrases from commercials over the years. But in the 1980s, one catchphrase ruled them all — “Where’s the Beef?” If you grew up during this time, you know how iconic this catchphrase was. It had a tremendous impact on pop culture throughout the decade and beyond. It would be repeated everywhere and made Clara Peller — the woman who uttered the phrase — world famous.

The phrase “Where’s the Beef” continued to grow and would be used to question things such as ideas, events, or products as to if they had any substance.

In the mid 1980s, McDonald’s and Burger King were leaders of the fast-food burger market, and they promoted the size of their burgers with products like the “Big Mac” and the “Whopper.”

Wendy’s didn’t have any specific “big-name” type burger, and most of their products were single patty burgers. But they contained more meat than they believed people realized.

They wanted to showcase that their hamburger had more beef and that McDonald’s and Burger King were hiding their lack of meat by using larger buns. Wendy’s wanted to call them out for these tactics while showcasing that they had more beef.

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 (“It certainly is a big bun. It’s a very big bun. It’s a big fluffy bun. It’s a very big fluffy bun”). As one of the ladies lift the top half of the bun, a comically minuscule hamburger patty with cheese and a pickle is revealed (prompting her to finish the sentence “—bun.” with a much more disappointed tone). 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 (including the “Home of the Big Bun” and a restaurant with a golden arch) that were slammed down before she could complete the line.

The advertising campaign ended in 1985 after Peller performed in a commercial for Prego pasta sauce, saying “I found it, I really found it”, a phrase alluding to the beef in the listener’s mind.