Carl's Jr. Gets Sexy... Again

Carl's Jr. has made no apologies for running an ad featuring a very wet Paris Hilton (and where a burger only makes a brief cameo). The ad is still available on Carl's Jr.'s website. The restaurant's homepage even features a link to "an outrageous Paris Hilton ad spoof" that is several hundred times more corporate than guerrilla.

Cultural scolds like Bill O'Reilly argue that the Hilton ad will actually hurt sales, as parents who were outraged over the "in your face" ad would boycott the restaurant. Today, I did a little field research: the Carl's Jr. in Sacramento's Downtown Plaza was filled with young people and, yes, families. It seems that these consumers don't have qualms about patronizing an establishment that has claimed "if it doesn't get all over the place, it doesn't belong in your face."

If anything, Carl's Jr. is pushing the envelope even more. It's super-sized soft drinks now feature various Sports Illustrated swimsuit models. Groups like the American Family Association (AFA) are outraged.

What really stood out on my visit were the fountain drink displays, featuring two bold words: "BITE" and "SWALLOW." What does the AFA think about that, I wonder? Do they take the position of any good fellatio connoisseur, who knows that the latter is much more preferable than the former?