Everybody was saying “WHERE’S THE BEEF” in 1984!  Some may even have had a promotional item…I had a puffy sticker in my sticker collection that said, “Where’s the Beef!”

The debut commercial that started the whole craze, starring Clara Peller!

The commercial was originally supposed to star a young couple, but the ad company did not find the concept funny and changed it to the elderly ladies.
An earlier version, featuring a middle-aged bald man saying, “Thanks, but where’s the beef?”, failed to make much impact. After the Peller version, the catchphrase was repeated in television shows, films, magazines, and other media outlets.

Here’s a compilation of ALL the commercials:

Later in 1984, Nashville songwriter and DJ Coyote McCloud wrote and performed a hit song entitled “Where’s the Beef?” as a promotion for Wendy’s restaurants’ famous advertising campaign featuring Clara Peller.

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.

There were many “Where’s the beef?” promotional items, including bumper stickers, frisbees, clothing patches, a Milton Bradley game, and more.