Paris Hilton Carl’s Burger Ad Crashes SpicyParis Site, Boosts Profits
Carl’s Jr. has caused quite the stir with their new Paris Hilton commercial where America’s favorite trust fund princess washes a car, suds herself up, then goes down on a tasty Carl’s Jr. (also known as Hardees) burger. I’ve seen the ad played on CNN and MSNBC about 6 times in the past week (and I hardly watch TV) with conservatives, Donny Deustch, and others arguing the ethics of teenage boys squirming with joy as a fake blonde bombshell orally fixates a hamburger in the same fashion of her home videos – but now comes the big news. Carls Jr’s site devoted to the commercial (spicyparis.com) apparently crashed due to a heavy load on their server.
Shankar Gupta of Media Post writes “Server rashes generally are considered bad for business. So are angry protesters. But this week, a combination of the two might just be the best thing that ever happened to fast-food chain Carl’s Jr. Traffic this week soared at the site hosting a racy ad for the “Spicy Burger,” starring celebrity heiress Paris Hilton, after reports trickled out over the weekend that public interest in the site was so great that the page crashed. Then, when the watchdog group Parents Television Council protested the ad, traffic surged even more.”
Someone at Carl’s Jr. did their homework – 16 to 24 year old American males love burgers, they also love sexy chicks, the Internet, blogging, and passing around video downloads. After the Parents Television Council got a smell of the $6 Spicy Burger ad, TV stations began to pull it and then word got out that the commercial was available online – the critics caused more of a stir than the ad itself. Then the public, which was teased by the short clips of the commercial on CNN and MSNBC got word of the SpicyParis.com site and whamo! – the site crashes and makes even more news.
Now, apparently sales at Carl’s Jr. have hit a high for the month of May! “Carl’s Jr. continued advertising the new Spicy BBQ Six Dollar Burger and its unique breakfast offering, the Breakfast Burger, during period four.” Andrew F. Puzder, president and CEO, said, “These products helped drive the positive same-store sales for the period, and on a two-year cumulative basis, Carl’s Jr. same-store sales were up approximately 10.9 percent. For the 21st consecutive period, average unit volumes were higher than any comparable period in at least a decade.”
