Mark Wahlberg Gets Real!

One of Hollywood’s biggest stars talks about burgers, building a studio and being Marky Mark. 

- Jason Lynch

Mark Wahlberg first took the advertising world by storm in 1992, thanks to his provocative, indelible Calvin Klein underwear campaign, which was shot by the late Herb Ritts. He’s been surprising us ever since, transitioning from Marky Mark, the rapper behind the ’90s hit “Good Vibrations,” to one of Hollywood’s biggest stars, thanks to films like Boogie Nights, Ted, Transformers: Age of Extinction and The Departed (which landed him an Oscar nomination). A decade ago, he made yet another bold pivot, branching into producing projects for both television (HBO’s Entourage, which was based on his life, as well as the premium cable channel’s series Boardwalk Empire and Ballers) and film (Lone Survivor, The Fighter and Patriots Day, his forthcoming drama about the Boston Marathon bombing). As he helps engineer the steady rise of the Wahlburgers chain, Wahlberg talks with Adweek about why he initially hated the name of the restaurant, his approach to working with brand marketers and what he learned from posing in those boxer briefs back in the day.

Where did the name Wahlburgers come from?