Chuching.

This two-syllable chunk of automata piea, symbolizing the sound of an old-school cash register

opening, generally a celebratory exclamation to signify an imminent financial windfall,

feels as if it's always existed in the collective consciousness.

But the phrase actually has a highly specific source, a 1991 television commercial for a

then-regional burger chain in the American Heartland, which started red-headed young actor,

named Seth Green.

In the 32nd spot, Green, a former child star who would go on to long-running success

in film and TV, played a greedy fast food clerk who uttered Chuching as he rang up a series

of upcharges on a distressed father in the drive-thru, the spot ending by specifying the sponsor

as a budget-friendly alternative.

Like where's the beef and yokeiro takobel, Chuching was a fast food commercial catchphrase

that quickly entered the common tongue, and would in short order appear in recurring

SNL sketch-turned-feature film Wains World, though it was deployed less frequently than

their signature sound, shwing, used in reference to a physically attractive woman and accompanied

by a cartoonishly horny hip thrust.

Incidentally, Wains World star Mike Weyers would later cast Green as Dr. Evil's son Scott

Evil in the Austin Powers franchise.

Aside from shaping the lexicon, Chuching ad was beloved in its day, part of a clever

campaign that raised the profile of a young burger chain that hung its marketing on its

good value.

Like Carl's Jr. and Hardee's, this chain has one core menu split across two geographically

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