This post is part of our Ads Gone Bad series. Share your thoughts and memories of this ad in the comments, and be sure to check out our other posts on marketing gone wrong.
In 2005, CKE Restaurants Inc. (NYSE: CKR) outraged both social conservatives and lovers of music at the same time when its Carl's Jr. chain hired Paris Hilton to shill its new Spicy Burger. It set a new standard of tastelessness that will be difficult to equal.
Conservatives -- most Americans actually -- find the fact that Paris Hilton is famous at all to be a offensive. Her main claim to fame comes from her appearance in a now-infamous sex tape. The appeal of her one-time hit show The Simple Life eluded me, but hey, I was not the target demographic. I am a 40-year-old married guy so I can't speak to her numerous other enterprises, such as the perfume Heiress. Her single "Stars Are Blind" was not as awful as I thought it would be, but maybe I have gone tone deaf listening to too many Elmo songs. Parents of toddlers will understand.
It is against this backdrop that we should analyze the notorious Carl's advertisement. On one level it was a brilliant ad. It features the star of "The Hottie and the Nottie" clad in a bikini writhing in ecstasy as she washes a car while Cole Porter's "I Love Paris" blares in the background. The pairing of Cole Porter and Paris Hilton was freakin' brilliant in and of itself. The late composer was probably turning in his grave knowing that his song, which debuted in the 1953 musical Can Can, was massacred in such a way.
Critics of the commercial, including the Parents Television Council, labeled it "soft-core porn." To his credit, the head of CKE told his critics to buzz off. "Maybe people are excited because it's Paris Hilton, but there are far worse things on television that these groups should be worried about," CKE head Andy Puzder told CNN. He added that his three children saw the ad and suffered no ill effects.
The same can't be said for CKE. Shares are down about 20% since the Hilton ad appeared. A major shareholder recently called on the parent of Carl's Jr. to reduce capital spending and cut operating costs to improve free cash flow. If the results do not improve. Puzder may have to hit up Hilton for a job.
| Very offended | |
|---|---|
| A little offended | |
| Not offended | |
| I like it! |
See other examples of Ads Gone Bad.
Walmart's New Health Food Push: Is It Too Hard to Swallow?
Bonds Are a 'Safe' Investment: A Big Lie Gets Even Bigger


Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
9-05-2008 @ 3:04PM
joe said...
I like the ad,guess Im just a male that likes women. Lets face it theres always somebody to take offense at just about anything. People doing ads should have the good sense to view thier own work and look at it from a differnt perspective if it raises a viable question go in another direction.if your unable to do that get 10 people off the street get thier opinion go with the majority,good luck!!!
9-05-2008 @ 3:44PM
nellie said...
I can tell you one thing for sure, that
was the BEST hamburger Carl's Jr has
ever offered. If anyone decided not to
buy one because they were offended by
the commercial, they really truly missed out.
We would LOVE for that burger to be
re-introduced! YUMMMMM
9-05-2008 @ 6:44PM
Cooky said...
What does a soapy sponge and slinky black suit have to do with a family place to pick up a burger. Please leave it for the gentlmen's club. Ad is misleading. When have you ever seen anyone looking like that working at Carls Jr.
9-05-2008 @ 6:45PM
mrk said...
This is minor compared with ads in other countries. Funny how the right wing/focus on the family freaks don't complain about violence in ads. Just sex. Guess they don't get enough.
9-06-2008 @ 12:26AM
Cher said...
Wow! Dang it for living down South .. we didn't get that commercial here. I wouldn't try the burger but the car wash I would have paid money to have. ;) W/WO the car!
9-06-2008 @ 11:00AM
GPUPPY1 said...
I hated the ad, but then I hate all Carl Jr. (known as Hardees in my area) commercials. They're just stupid.
9-06-2008 @ 7:45PM
MST said...
why not just have her pole dance, and cut to shot of her stuffing a hamburger in her mouth every 15 seconds?
carl's pitches their ads to horny teen males and twentysomething lunkheads.
i might eat there if they didn't have a sort of knuckledragger image the ads gave them.
9-06-2008 @ 1:28PM
Tom said...
It is the best Paris Hilton ever looked and the burger wasn't bad either!
9-07-2008 @ 4:32PM
Diana B. said...
That hamburger was Paris's dinner for the next three weeks!
9-07-2008 @ 8:25PM
Teresa in Virginia said...
I think this would be fine on a porn channel, pay per view, but not on tv. I don't want to sit there with my 10 year old and see this. I find it demeaning to women and we have enough of that. If you want to do this in private for a boyfriend or husband that is fine. I am not a prude and have done similar things. Of course I don't look nearly as good as Paris doing it. Hey I try.
9-08-2008 @ 12:30PM
Eremite said...
I have refused to eat at Carl's ever since this ad ran... it was the topper to a series of offensive ads... and they continue today... but, as another guy pointed out, I'm not in Carl's demographic... nor am I in their stores! (It's too bad because some of the offerings look good... but, they don't get my business until they clean up their ads.)
9-08-2008 @ 2:04PM
Stanley said...
That anyone would find this ad offensive is evidence that the ultra right wing religious conservatives are intent on returning this country to the dark ages. As for Paris Hilton, 99% of the negative press about her is complete lies promoted by sleezy tabloids and irresponsible, slanted, moronic reporting such as on FOX News. I would rather Paris Hilton become VP any day than that phony, putrid, idiotic Sarah Palin.
10-23-2008 @ 6:17AM
Susan said...
Paris did not offend me, for the first time in her career, probably because she had something in her mouth instead of running it! She's fine as long as she doesn't try to use that pretty blonde head to think! What I did find offensive was that disgusting mass of fat (68g), cholestrol (150mg), calories (1010), carbs(60g), and sodium (1980mg)! Most of these are more than one person needs for a full day! They must have had her do the commercial because she is the only one skinny enough to eat one of those things! Now I love a GOOD hamburger, but that thing just looks disgusting! *and like it should come with a warning from the surgeon general! (All "nutritional" value is taken from the Carl's Jr. Website and based on the Original Six Dollar Burger.)
10-26-2008 @ 8:16AM
Buck said...
Now,
What does a flat-chested, rich biotch, skimply dressed have to do with a fast food product? If you eat the burger, you wind up looking like Rosie O'Donald. Fast Food KILLS! Food perservatives cause cancer! Grow your own vegetables, organically, prepare them at home and eat healthier.
10-26-2008 @ 11:05AM
Brandilyn said...
Well said Buck! Stanley are you ignorant? Paris Hilton is a tramp! regardless of what the tabloids have said about her. Her claim to fame was a SEX VIDEO remember!?! That is why she is a what she is. Her personality and the way she carries herself......she is a tramp not a very bright one either. I don't mind the ad. I find that using such a skinny girl eating a Hardee's burger is misleading. I have a very similar body as her (A cup :(, skinny, but not as tall) I eat fast food maybe once a week. You don't maintain a figure like ours by indulging in all that fat. This ad would definitely not stop me from eating there. It is just and ad. All kinds of tv ads are offensive. People need to turn off their tv's, get off their butts, and do something that matters!
10-26-2008 @ 1:36PM
Brenda J said...
Using Paris Hilton lowers the image of the Hilton Hotel chain period, using that ad just confirms it.
10-26-2008 @ 8:11PM
n3mo said...
Im hungry. I want some carl's jr now...i guess what's more powerful than sex is hunger.
10-27-2008 @ 10:31AM
Cookie said...
I thought the ad was hilarious, anything to do with Paris Hilton is hilarious.
11-18-2008 @ 6:18PM
Mac McQuinn said...
I will eat carls hamburgers for the rest of my life just thinking about that glorious and sexy body.
11-18-2008 @ 6:54PM
Ann said...
Carl's Jr. needs a new ad agency. They've had some of the most disgusting, sleezy, ads on TV. I won't even go near their stores. I've even written to Carl's Jr. about their ads - you think they care? Ha! Maybe if people stop buying their crap, they'll get the picture that there are some people out there who have manners.