The Hilton Files

Paris Hilton — a Pop Culture Diva

by Christine on March 7th, 2006

It has been nine months since the Carl’s Jr. spot first aired Paris Hilton’s TV commercial in which the celebrity washed a car in a tiny swimsuit while chomping a big burger has achieved pop-culture’s second life: parodies.

According to Andrew Puzder, CEO of CKE Restaurant,
“That ad has become as much a part of popular culture as the Energizer Bunny.” Puzder says the ads attracted about $25 million in free media coverage. That’s more than three times the $8 million that Carl’s and Hardee’s paid for air time. And, he says, Hardee’s, which had a slight dip in same-store sales in 2005, posted sales growth during the eight weeks the ad aired.

And now this: free Paris parodies.

•In film. A parody of the steamy spot is featured in the film Date Movie in a scene where a guy imagines his ex-girlfriend in the Carl’s Jr. ad. The scene, with actress Sophie Monk, is in slow motion.

In a TV ad for the film, the girl gobbles a bite of burger, then rubs it over her body. “Can a hot girl really sell burgers?” a voice asks. “I don’t know. But now I want to do naughty things with a cow.”

•On the Web. After the Paris ad hit, John Younger, CEO of recruiting firm Accolo, had an idea: a what-if parody Web ad that instead of a sexy woman substituted a fat, bearded guy as the swimsuit-wearing car washer.

The ad ends with this tagline: “Hiring the right person makes all the difference.”

The ad, filmed for less than $25,000, had 80,000 downloads by the fourth day. “This wasn’t sleazy,” Younger says. “It highlighted what’s core to our business.”

•On TV. An ad for the 2005 Sony film Deuce Bigalow, European Gigolo put Rob Schneider in Paris’ stiletto heels. Co-star Eddie Griffin utters, “That is so not hot.”

Via Yahoo! News

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POSTED IN: Making fun of Paris, Paris Hilton in Business