Posted on 05/24/2005 1:28:09 AM PDT by JohnHuang2
Burger chain Carl's Jr. says its new commercial featuring TV sex kitten Paris Hilton was so hot, its Web servers suffered a meltdown.
Visitors flooded the a special page set up by the company last week, but unexpected traffic volume caused the host servers to crash at 1:14 p.m. Friday. Service was restored within four hours.
"It was a mixed blessing," said Brad Haley, executive vice president of marketing for Carl's Jr. "We wanted to create a Paris Hilton site that would attract visitors, and we certainly achieved that objective. Unfortunately, we just weren't prepared for the influx of traffic, and disappointed a number of visitors. It turned out that Paris was too hot for our servers."
As WorldNetDaily previously reported, Hilton is shown in the 30-second spot eating a spicy burger while washing a Bentley in a revealing swimsuit, prompting concerns of indecency on broadcast airwaves.
"This commercial is basically soft-core porn," Melissa Caldwell, research director for the Parents Television Council, told the Los Angeles Times. "It's inappropriate for television."
Meanwhile, the head of the fast-food chain ducked out of a scheduled appearance on the Fox News Channel tonight to discuss the campaign.
"The CEO of Carl's Jr., Andrew Puzder, was supposed to appear this evening but canceled," said Bill O'Reilly, host of "The O'Reilly Factor." "He did however send us a statement that says he considers Miss Hilton to be an intrguing cultural icon."
In Puzder's stead, O'Reilly interviewed Barbara Lippert, a reporter for AdWeek magazine, who felt Carl's Jr. made the right decision to air the commercial simply because of the free media attention it's sparking.
"If you need to get someone to get on her hands and knees and eat a Whopper, [Paris Hilton] is the Einstein of gorging on all fours," Lippert said. "This particular skill set plays very well with her, soaping, licking, moving in a bathing suit. You've got her strong suit there."
"They're doing something as semi-pornographic as they possibly can," Lippert added, "and I think if you saw Paris Hilton in other commercials, she's just an annoying B-list celebrity and it's unbearable to listen to her talk. Here at least they don't have her say a word."
The Hilton spot will also be used for Hardee's restaurants, which, like Carl's Jr., is owned by California-based CKE Restaurants.
The new commercials are produced by Mendelsohn Zien of Los Angeles, the same company that created a campaign using an unborn baby threatening his mother if she continues to eat spicy food.
This isn't the first time Hilton has created a stir on the Internet. In fact, the star of Fox's "The Simple Life" and Hilton Hotel heiress became a houshold name when a homemade sex video with an ex-boyfriend was displayed online.
What a dork. Why doesn't he just say that Paris gives him an instant erection and that's why he hired her instead of that 'cultural icon' crap!
That's not soap, it's a flea dip.
Bad case of mis-branding and a lot of money mis-spent if a reporter from AdWeek calls a Carl's burger a "Whopper."
cyborg!
Hey, I'm attacking thru the anonymity of an internet forum. No need to be fair and non-judgemental.
But anyone that defends the fast-food industry as a purveyor of anything else other than over-seasoned, over-cooked, largely unidentifiable processed globs of dubious nutritional value as "food", well, that person has to be weak-minded.
And when that person makes that crap a large percentage of his/her daily intake, then I submit, they are weak-willed as well.
What did I say?! :D
She'll put anything in her mouth!
"If you need to get someone to get on her hands and knees and eat a Whopper, [Paris Hilton] is the Einstein of gorging on all fours," Lippert said. "This particular skill set plays very well with her, soaping, licking, moving in a bathing suit. You've got her strong suit there."
Are they talking about a commercial or her sex tape?
A Quarter Pounder with cheese in Amsterdam is called a "Royale with Cheese."
You would think a reporter for AdWeek would know that a Whopper is Burger King and not Carl's Jr...
Maybe she was talking about the other video????
Paris Hilton is ugly. A revealing swimsuit is only worthwhile if you have something good to reveal.
The commercial came on the tv last night and I thought someone had hacked the cable company and put a soft porn film on the cable. It is totally inappropriate for evening tv. Shame on Carl's.
I think she is relatively attractive, abeit with a slightly goofy face. But, far more attractive women can be found at any mall.
They showed the commercial on Fox and Friends this morning, and when they broke back to the hosts, Kiran Chetry, just sitting in her chair with her legs crossed, was infinitely hotter than Paris writhing around in her wet bikini.
"What?"
I've seen "Pulp Fiction" too many times. I was wondering if anyone would catch that quote.
LOL!
Paris may actually be quite brilliant, she's managed to create a lucrative career out of being famous for ???? Everything she does is paid for, like her or not...she's obviously inherited the old Hilton business acumen.
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
No question there. This makes much more sense than just labeling everyone who eats at fast food as weak-willed.
Unfortunately, there is a whole generation of people growing up who consider McDonald's to be one of the basic food groups.
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