Note to advertisers: be really careful who you pick to pitch your products.

Sure, you want a big name. You want convincing. You want sexy. But do you really want someone who doesn't even like your product? (Hint: no!)

Yesterday, Paris Hilton plead 'no contest' to one count of alcohol-related reckless driving -- she'll pay a fine and be on probation for 36 months. All this because she was really hungry (and drunk) and "wanted to have an In-N-Out burger."

Which all would be a juicy story, and par-for-the-course with the idle rich like Ms. Hilton. Except that she's a former spokesperson (spokesmodel?) for rival Carl's Jr., a unit of CKE Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:CKR). There was so much egg (or was that hamburger grease?) on everyone's face, the incident made Business 2.0's list for dumbest moments in business.

I'll give this: you probably don't want your spokespeople drinking and driving. But if they do, and they're caught in the act and interviewed as to what was going on, wouldn't you want them to say, "I really wanted a Carl's Jr. burger?"

Pick your spokespeople like you pick your CEOs: make sure they love 'em a good ____ [your product goes here]. It will at least make for a good crawl on CNN. Any PR is good PR... right?

In the ads he's depicted as an almost fantastical creature, "Dr. Z," who answers consumers' quirky questions about their cars. And Dieter Zetsche sought to join Dave Thomas, Colonel Sanders, Bill Ford Jr. and even (yes) Lee Iaccoca as a CEO who pitched his company's products in its advertisements. The TV ads for DaimlerChrysler AG (USA (NYSE:DCX) have inspired much delight amongst consumers (especially me), although there's a problem: consumers don't believe Dr. Z is really the CEO of Chrysler.

Chrysler put Dr. Z on temporary leave a few weeks ago, prompting a firestorm of complaints by faithful (and cheers by those who were "creeped out" by his mustache, or simply couldn't understand his cute German accent).

The Wall Street Journal [subscription required] says today that Dr. Z might be fired permanently as pitchman (despite the $100 million DaimlerChrylser has spent on the campaign thus far), citing the $1.5 billion the company lost in the third quarter as a catalyst for change. (No one's saying Zetsche might being fired as CEO, just for the record.) Could Dr. Z be too cute for his own good? Even I had to go look at DaimlerChrysler's corporate profile to be sure that Zetsche was really the CEO when I first saw the advertisements (and I should know better).

In my opinion, though, Dr. Z is more than successful. He's got people talking, and he's just so adorable. I love thinking about DaimlerChrysler as this mesh between German engineering and American chutzpah. He's so vastly better than the Hemi guy, I can't even figure out a way to put it into words. And I had the same questions about Wendy's Dave Thomas when I first started seeing him on commercials -- is he real, or is he SAG? -- and advertising critics the world over agree that Thomas was good for the hamburger chain. Dr. Z makes me, and countless other potential consumers, feel good about Chrysler cars, and that's what it's all about.

Please, DaimlerChrysler, fire the Hemi guy, instead!