Seams like everyone is raving (or complaining) about the new commercial for Carl’s Jr. the hamburger chain. The spot airing in major markets right now and soon to go nationwide for Hardees (Carl’s big brother) features the once again scantily clad Paris Hilton.
I heard the name a few weeks ago, I friend was asking why this girl was even famous to begin with and I realized where I had seen that name before, on the net. Listen, I live on the internet, as a web designer I literally have seen it all and then some. The fifth and debasement of humanity is more than apparent now (more so now because of the Internet) and among the sites of ill-report upon which I’ve been so unfortunate to stumble upon was the name of Paris Hilton. It struck me strangely to hear that name now a part of regular conversation, a household name.
So what does this soft-core (is there such a thing) porn star have to do with Carl’s Jr./Hardees you are wondering. Well, until this commercial came out, nothing. Now that franchise is forever linked with Paris’ body bending into all sorts of alluring positions while washing a black Bentley (car). Of course, as all great works of porn, more water and suds end up on Hilton than the car. Among the porn elite this must be a triumph. It won’t be much longer, maybe a few more years and “Girls Gone Wild” will no longer be exiled to late night TV but will take it’s rightful place as a commercial spot beside American Idol.
Since May 19, the ad has run during sports programs, on ABC’s “Desperate Housewives” finale Sunday and on the season-ending episodes of Fox’s “The O.C.” and NBC’s “The Apprentice.”
Carl’s Jr.’s message to the PTC (Parents Television Council): The group needs to “get a life,” said Andy Puzder, CEO of Carl’s Jr., a subsidiary of CKE Restaurants . “This isn’t Janet Jackson — there is no nipple in this. There is no nudity, there is no sex acts — it’s a beautiful model in a swimsuit washing a car.”
CNN Money
Puzder goes on in that article to say he showed the spot to his own children ages 12, 9 and 7 and that they showed no sign of corruption. Really Mr. Puzder, and you expected what response from your kids, “oh they didn’t go shack up with someone that night so they must not have been affected”, is that what you are saying?
Seriously, the problem is the more consistently people see such acts (whether in film or real life) the more immune they become to the shock. Once there is no shock effect from the viewer then the advertising moguls have to up-the-anti and show more shocking events and so the chain continues until you have teenage girls having children and their fathers are barely old enough to drive.
How badly do you need to sell that burger? Are you willing to sell your societies soul to make a buck? Sad.
Computer Networks: The Heralds of Resource Sharing
Today, Google released Google Mars. Utilizing Google Maps to provide an interactive map of Mars, much like the Google Moon project, was accomplished by a partnership between Google and Arizona State University’s THEMIS project.
