Paris Gets a Little Too Spicy

We all know (but don’t necessarily love) Paris Hilton. Goofing up on “The Simple Life”, attempting to survive “The House of Wax”, and being so ‘blond’ it’s frightening.

It’s a rarity to find her doing something that has helped this world move forward (of course, that depends on what you think moves this day and age in that direction). Did she finally find her purpose in…of all places…Carl’s Jr.?

Paris is now starring in a ‘hot’ new commercial promoting Carl’s Jr.’s (or Hardees, depending on what side of America you’re familiar with) “Spicy BBQ Six Dollar Burger”.

If you think that’s an unusual amount of words for Paris to say, then you’re right. She lets the titles do that part. Her trademark line, “That’s hot” is not even said by her.
Rather, she just makes many sighing noises the whole way through. Also throughout the commercial, Paris does her usual (supposedly ‘sexy’) stuff, somewhat taking a hint from Nicollette Sheridan’s character, Edie, from “Desperate Housewives”.

She wears outrageously skimpy clothing, because when you’re washing a car…that’s what you do, right? She then proceeds to squeeze the sponge for all it’s worth, and pretty much rub her body all over the car, hardly accomplishing any washing of it. It’s more like she’s taking a bath next to a car and making a lame attempt to make it as sexy as it can possibly be.

So, I’m sure some of you out there reading this have by now raced off to Google and typed in “Paris Hilton Carl’s Jr. commercial” and clicked “I’m Feeling Lucky”. Well, for those of you who want to view it out of what we’ll call ‘curiosity’s sake’, there's a website that should meet your needs (erotic as they may be). Yes. It’s true; Carl’s made a site completely devoted to the ad itself, complete with desktop backgrounds, ‘behind-the-scenes’ footage, etc.

The link for the “too hot for TV” sixty second cut can be found here: SpicyParis.com

Hardee's - Spicy Paris (2005) 0:30 (USA)

 

Okay, so of course half the people who read this are lost in Paris in the Springtime right now, but for those of you who have kept your sanity thus far, you have probably figured that this ad could not have gone unnoticed by those oh-so-back-in-the-day parent groups who would obviously object to this kind of crap. Well, that’s exactly what happened.

The Parents Television Council, or PTC, which seems to be attempting to return us back to the fifties, has been the one to come down hardest on this ad. This time, though, it seems to be with good reason. "This blatant sexually charged ad has no place on the public airwaves, and especially when children are in the audience. Carl's Jr./Hardees need to be held responsible for marketing their raunchy, sexually graphic ad to millions of children via broadcast television and at the Carl's Jr./Hardees' web sites without any restrictions," said L. Brent Bozell, president of the PTC.” You can find the rest of PTC’s opinion here: ParentsTV.org On Celebrity Justice today, Bozell also stated that he sees it as Carl’s Jr. “giving us the middle finger.”
 

He went on to explain that it’s like they don’t want families as customers anymore, and that they are trying just to market to sexually aroused teenage boys. Well DUH! What company ISN’T trying to do that these days? Haven’t they seen Burger King’s new Chicken Bacon Cheddar Ranch commercial? Or Carl’s Jr.’s other commercials with, of all the people, Hugh Hefner and his ‘Playmates’? What’s Carl’s Jr.’s stance on this issue? Well, seeing as this whole thing was directed by a group of men (young and old alike)…they think “That’s hot,” pretty much.
If you watch the “Corporate Commentary” on the commercial’s official site (link above) you’ll find three men from Carl’s pretty much ranting about how hot Paris is. “One of the things I think you can expect to see is, pure hotness. Paris is as hot as can be.” What do I think? I think it’s just a pathetic way to market Paris and sell a burger to horny teens. Yes, it’s a disgusting commercial and not at all humorous. As Melissa Caldwell, Director of Research at PTC, put it, “This commercial is basically soft-core porn.”
And she’s right. It’s Paris Hilton having a threesome with a sponge and a car while eating a burger.

But I also think that if groups like the PTC want to crack down on things like this, they might need to take a step back and realize who ad agencies are really trying to market to. ‘Family friendly Television’ went out the window “Joan of Arcadia” getting cancelled.

Adland® is supported by your donations alone. You can help us out by buying us a Ko-Fi coffee.
Anonymous Adgrunt's picture
comment_node_story
Files must be less than 1 MB.
Allowed file types: jpg jpeg gif png wav avi mpeg mpg mov rm flv wmv 3gp mp4 m4v.
Plywood's picture

This spot is shit.
I hope for a backlash against Carl's.

shmulikber's picture

if anyone has the time and the energy, go to the website http://www.spicyparis.com/paris.html and watch the video interviews "behind the scenes", where we get to hear how the brilliant marketing and advertising execs came up with the idea.

allowing for my pparaphrase, the idea was--hot car, hot girl, hot burger... am i the only one who doesnt get the logic connection between a bentley, an overexposed girl and a burger (except maybe the tagline - that's hot - a simple rip of her famous one-liner).

that said, it seems that it's been mighty helpful in attracting people to the site...but will it get them to buy burgers? who knows...

giving myself the benefit of the doubt, if i chose to see irony and sense of humour in the ad - which i, liberally of course, will, it isnt so bad. will the public see it this way though? my guess is as good as anyones...
cheers

caffeinegoddess's picture

Exact phrasing was "Great-looking actress, great-looking car, great-looking burger, that's pretty much the idea." (it's in the article below ;) )

And apparently that site has been crashed by people checking it out. Thing is, will it make them consider or actually go to a Carl's Jr to eat that sandwich? That's something only time will show.

From the LATimes:

This commercial is basically soft-core porn," said Melissa Caldwell, research director for the Parents Television Council. "It's inappropriate for television."

The Los Angeles-based advocacy group plans to mobilize its more than 1 million members to protest and is considering petitioning the Federal Communications Commission for a ruling on whether the advertisements are indecent.

[snip]
Peter Sealey, adjunct marketing professor at UC Berkeley, said that although the ad might be remembered by viewers, it might ultimately hurt the Carl's Jr. brand.

"This is the ultimate in bimbo advertising," Sealey said. "If you are Hooters and you have buxom young waitresses, that's fine. But Carl's Jr. is more mainstream. They've got families going in there."

Apparently there's a bit of press now about people complaining about the ad.

The chief marketing officer for the ad agency responsible was also quoted in the LATimes saying, "the agency designed the commercial to play off Hilton's notoriety and grab the attention of Carl's Jr.'s target demographic of 18-to-34-year-old men".

I'm sorry but this is nothing but "shockvertising" and I think it's crap. Granted I'll admit I cannot stand Paris Hilton and am sick to death of hearing about her and seeing her, and I'm not the target. But I'll definitely make sure I won't through the doors of a Carl's Jr. There's a line between edgy and too far and they've crossed it. (IMHO)

AnonymousCoward's picture

Personally, I thinks it's "HOT". Just Kidding. She's got no ass.

AnonymousCoward's picture

Would a girl the size of Paris actually get such a big burger? Hell no! What a waste of an ad.

AnonymousCoward's picture

Reminds me a little bit of this equally sexy vid from the Naldo's Crew, a tribute to everyone's favorite cheeseburger maker, not Carl's Jr. but Mickey D's, and not Paris Hilton loving it but some kind of nerd thug gettin a bit too romantic: loving while eating.

AnonymousCoward's picture

I agree, the spot is crap, loads of guys looking at the web site will not result in more ...go away Paris, please

blondino's picture

I finally got around to watch the video. And it is bad. It doesn't want me to eat hamburgers. It does't make me want to wash my car. Hell, it might even have put me off swex for a while.

Then their website has this section called "Parodies". The plural, does that refer to the fact that they have one ad in small and large size? I assume this is the only pardy that makes them look reasonably good. They could actually have chose an even worse "model" than Paris Hilton. Well, that's at least something.