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Parents Group Mobilizing Against Paris Hilton's Spicy Burger Ad

The Parents Television Council is not a Paris Hilton fan. Her new Carl's Jr. commercial has them frothing at the mouth and organizing a boycott of Carl's Jr. fast food restaurants because the unseemly nature of the ad. Her new commercial features La Paris seductively washing a Bentley then eating a Carl's Jr. hamburger. Along with washing the car, Paris also seductively washes herself, while she wears a skimpy black bathing suit and high heels.

The Parents Television Council said it is encouraging its more than 1 million members to voice their disapproval of the ad to Carl's Jr., a hamburger chain owned by Carpinteria, California-based CKE Restaurants Inc.

The Los Angeles-based group was also weighing whether to ask the Federal Communications Commission to declare the ad indecent, according to spokeswoman Melissa Caldwell.

"The ad crosses any sort of boundaries about what's appropriate for TV," Caldwell said, adding that the spot was "basically soft porn." CKE Restaurants Chief Executive Andy Puzder took issue with the group's characterization of the ad as pornographic. "There is no nudity in this ad. This isn't Janet Jackson's nipple," Puzder said in an interview. "It's just a fast-food ad. I wish they would focus on something that might be more meaningful."

Puzder added that the commercial has only run during adult television programs and is aimed at Carl's Jr.'s target demographic of "young hungry guys."

"It's not as if we're running this on SpongeBob SquarePants," Puzder said, referring to the popular children's television cartoon. "This ad is not targeted to kids."

SpongeBob SquarePants? Is that really the best defense to use with this crowd? Wasn't it some kind of similar kill-joy group that accused poor SpongeBob of unspeakable perversions?

The longer, more racy version of the commercial has been so popular that the website SpicyParis.com crashed on Friday due to the overwhelming traffic. But it's back online now, so there's no need to panic.

Photo: Carl's Jr.

Posted on May 26, 2005

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