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.
No worse than those creepy/gay "wake up with the King" Burger King commercials. Every time one comes on, I feel the need to watch "Die Hard" or James Bond movies to get the testosterone flowing again.
Still no link to the ad?
Carl's used to have good burgers before they forced founder and true-blue conservative Carl Karcher out. The place has gone downhill ever since.
Mr. Karcher is a wonderful family man, a faithful Catholic. One of his sons married a cousin of my dear husband. Here in S. Cal, he took a lot of heat for his donations to and support of the pro-life cause.
It most certainly is not. It's one of the best ways for the American public to let corporate America know what it thinks of products, services, ad campaigns, celebrity endorsers, etc.
Carl's Jr. has a history of obnoxious ad campaigns. Paris Hilton is just the latest. I'm sure you're right when you say their food sucks. They're like McDonald's. It's easy to boycott a restaurant that has crappy food. It's my opinion that a company hiring brain-dead endorsers like Dennis Rodman and Paris Hilton must have the same bad judgment when it comes to making its food products.
There are plenty of high-quality restaurants out there to choose from. It's not silly to say conservatives should be selective in more ways than one when choosing where to dine. If more people spoke with their wallet like I do, I bet we'd see an improvement in the quality of food and we'd also see a change in who gets paid to pitch the food in TV commercials for places like Carl's Jr.
Interesting background info.
Thank you.
Speak for yourself. Carl's Jr. rocks. Wish we had it here in the East.
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Remember the end of the film, Dr. Strangelove, when the pilot rides on the nuke, cheering, and waving his hat? I think a lot of people approach pop culture with the same kind of thinking: "Hell, we're going down, our society is going to explode and it won't be pretty, but we might as well go down laughing, having fun, and cheering Paris!  |
I thought Carl's Jr. had a "good" reputation because of their policy of hiring the handicapped. I guess that doesn't matter to the younger generation.
Sorry folks, there's something just fascinating about the "rich bitch" thing.. call me crazy. (Insert "you're crazy").
Anyone ever seen Lina Wertmüller's "Swept Away"? You'll know what I'm getting at.
Well they did hire this brainless twit, does that qualify for as a hanicap?
The commercial does seem way over the top.
(However, the burger does look good.)
I kind of like the one with Darth Vader and the "King", because I like imagining Vader light sabering the "King". Otherwise I hate those commercials and have no interest in going to Burger King now.
I have always liked Karl's, because you could always get a salad instead of fries, way before all the other burger joints offered that. They offered no bread versions of all their burgers as well, and their hamburgers are always good.
However, you can have Paris Hilton, I will take the car.
Carl's has had several commercial featuring hot women.
I have no idea why anyone would thing Paris Hilton's "hot." I guess some people are into the orange anorexic thing.
Perfect analogy!!!!
Somehow I get the feeling that gay King would like to be sabered!
You are right, those commercials creep me out so much I can't even go to BK. I am not sure what their goal is with these ads, but if it is to get straight guys like me to run as far from Burger King as possible, it's working.
Don't trust the special sauce?
I do believe I will be having lunch at Carl's Jr. today.
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