Commentary by Tim Horrigan, March 15,
2007 (revised May 7, 2007 & December 31, 2008 & May 9. 2011 &
December 17, 2011)
Back in 2004, there was a silly
controversy over Paris Hilton's rather spicy cheeseburger commercial
for the California-based Carls
Jr. chain. The commercial showed America's
favorite bimbo in a bikini washing a Bentley while also eating a
huge jalapeño cheesburger (and amazingly she fails to get the burger
wet even as she gets everything else wet, including the lens of the
camera.)
When
I was a student at USC
in the mid-1980s, the West Coast-based Carls
Jr. chain was one of my favorite fast food joints. At the time,
Carls Jr. was best-known for the innovative concept of fast food
which actually tasted like food. Now they also seem to be known for
edgy commercials. The most infamous ad was this one. The ostensible
connection between the endorser and the product is that she is hot
and the burger is hot as well (thanks to "fried jalapeños,
onion rings, and lots of barbeque sauce.") Judging by how thin
she is, she hasn't eaten very many of these things.
The ad has been denounced as "smut." I frankly wasn't
aware that smut deserved to be denounced. (By the way, my novel The
Forgotten Liars has a few mildly smutty passages, but no
Spicy BBQ burgers. Though the characters do enjoy plenty of
Sandwiches
Cubanos.)
The basic marketing concept behind the ads is that Carls Jr. is
the place for Young Guys on the Go who need good hot food right now.
This concept kind of leaves out Gals on the Go. However, it's good
that at least one fast-food chain is something more than just another
wholesome place to take your kid's soccer team for a post-practice
treat.
In any case, Paris Hilton is overexposed (in more than one sense
of the word) but at least it is a reasonably cute person this time
who is being overexposed... And eventually she will go the way of the
Spice Girls...
The commercial itself is still on the
internet, in the original 30-second version (as seen on TV) and an
expanded 60-second version
This ad also came out in a 60 second
version. For whatever reason, YouTube decided it was too hot for
persons under 18. It is not much different from this 30 second
version: it's just twice as much Paris and twice as much water being
sprayed. You can approximate the experience of watching the long
version by by watching this version twice, I guess.
(If anything, the short version is in— my opinion— more suggestive.)
Carls Jr. used to have a whole SpicyParis.com
web site with all sorts of collateral on it. But then things
changed. This may or may not have had anything to do with the
(slightly ironic) fact that her legal problems began when she got
busted for drunk driving while en route to a rival burger joint,
i.e., In-N-Out
Burger.
When
I was a student at USC
in the mid-1980s, the West Coast-based Carls
Jr. chain was one of my favorite fast food joints. At the time,
Carls Jr. was best-known for the innovative concept of fast food
which actually tasted like food. Now they also seem to be known for
edgy commercials. The most infamous ad was this one. The ostensible
connection between the endorser and the product is that she is hot
and the burger is hot as well (thanks to "fried jalapeños,
onion rings, and lots of barbeque sauce.") Judging by how thin
she is, she hasn't eaten very many of these things.
See
Also:
