In May of 2005, fast food chain Carl’s Jr. was thrust into the media spotlight for their controversial commercial featuring Paris Hilton. The commercial, which shows Hilton in a swimsuit washing a car and eating a hamburger, caused both excitement and horror from people across the nation. It caught the attention of Parents Television Council, whose spokeswoman Melissa Caldwall commented: “This commercial is basically soft-core porn. The way she moves, the way she puts her finger in her mouth—it’s very suggestive and very titillating” (CNN 1). The PTC argued that unlike a television program, parents have no way of anticipating when this commercial will come on, and thus are unable to shield their kids from it. Carl’s Jr. CEO Andy Pudzer responded to these complaints by saying they should “get a life” and “there is no nudity, there is no sex acts— it’s a beautiful model in a swimsuit washing a car” (CNN 1). Pudzer’s message behind his statement to the PTC rang loud and clear: stop being so old fashioned and uncool. Get over it, and get into the modern age.
This interaction is not quite unlike the interaction between Sheila Nevins, HBO producer, and a woman who asked her, “’Why would a woman- a middle-aged woman with a child- make a show about strippers?”’ (Levy 291). Nevins, appalled at such a question, answered, “’You’re talking fifties talk! Get with the program! I love the sex stuff, I love it! What’s the big deal?”’ (Levy 91). The message here is the same message found in the Carl’s Jr. interaction. Being sexy is cool, and if you don’t think so, then you aren’t cool. As Levy states, “Nobody wants to be the frump at the back of the room anymore, the ghost of women past. It’s just not cool. What is cool is for women to take a guy’s-eye view of pop culture in general and live, nude girls in particular” (Levy 92). In this way, raunch culture is very black or white. Either you’re in or you’re out. Either you’re an uncool frump or you’re sexy and cool.
From a marketing standpoint, Carl’s Jr. certainly picked the right celebrity to sell their hamburger. Besides being blond, beautiful and rich, Hilton comes with a past history of controversy that boosted her to fame. In a way, the reaction to her Carl’s Jr. commercial (success because of controversy) is symbolic of her rise to the A list. After her sex tape release, Hilton went from blonde heiress to one of the most recognized and exalted celebrities on the planet. Levy points out that it was not the sex tape that made Hilton an instant celebrity, but our reaction to it: “The point, though, is not what she did, but what we did with it. The net result of these adventures in amateur pornography was that Paris Hilton became one of the most recognizable and marketable female celebrities in our country… Paris Hilton some disgraced exile of our society. On the contrary, she is our mascot” (Levy 28). This may explain why the website that Carl’s Jr. set up to show the commercial, SpicyParis.com, crashed after too many viewers flocked to get a glimpse of the action. Crashing websites and a rise to celebrity after an amateur porno certainly proves one thing: sex sells.
Hilton certainly has the right kind of sex appeal to sell a product because she looks sexy, but doesn’t show sexual pleasure. Much of the Raunch culture is about appearing sexy. Stripper shoes, poles, and outfits aren’t about feeling sexual pleasure, but about looking like you want to. Similarly, Hilton’s sex tape shows her enjoying being sexy for the camera but acting apathetic during sex: “Hilton looks excited when she is posing for the camera, bored when she is engaged in actual sex. She is the perfect sexual celebrity for this moment, because our interest is in the appearance of sexiness, not the existence of sexual pleasure” (30). In a way, it is sad that sex symbols like Hilton and Jenna Jameson represent the ultimate sexiness, when their careers in sex are based on faking it.
Since the Paris Hilton Hamburger video, Carl’s Jr. has added two more sexually suggestive celebrity commercials to their resume. In the second, Audrina Patridge from MTV’s hit reality television series, The Hills, lounges around on the beach in a gold bikini eating a huge burger. At the beginning of the commercial, the caption states that her body has been rated the best bikini body. Audrina says, “To look this hot in a bikini, I got to give up, like, everything. But there is no way I’m giving up that Teriyaki burger. I’m totally obsessed. I have to be a little bad. I call it my bikini burger” (Youtube). The first aspect of this commercial that is laughable is the thought that Audrina Patridge would actually eat a burger like that in real life. Besides that silly contradiction, the raunch culture in this commercial is very evident. Audrina poses in her little gold bikini that doesn’t leave much to the imagination, and her comment “I have to be a little bad” definitely solidifies the sexual nature of the commercial. The most ironic part of this commercial is the end slogan: “Carl’s Jr: More than a piece of meat” (Youtube). It makes me wonder, what exactly they are talking about, the hamburger or Audrina? Maybe Audrina doesn’t mind being seen as one piece of meat to sell another. After all, this is part of Levy’s definition of a female chauvinist pig: “If Male Chauvinist Pigs were men who regarded women as pieces of meat, we would outdo them and be Female Chauvinist Pigs: women who make sex objects of other women and of ourselves” (Levy 4).
The argument could be made that Paris Hilton and Audrina Patridge did not make these commercials to sell hamburgers to men, but rather as a way to empower their female selves. They look good in swimsuits, so why wouldn’t it make them feel good to show off their bodies? Although Hilton and Audrina may personally feel that these commercials are empowering, there are several clues that the intended audience is definitely male. First is the product that they are selling. Not to be stereotypical and divide foods up into male and female, but a huge burger is not exactly associated with females. Secondly, Hilton’s commercial also features a nice car, which again, is typically associated with males. It seems to me that this commercial is looking to seduce men, and maybe the occasional Female Chauvinist Pigs.
The Third raunchy celebrity commercial shows Kim Kardashian, who is promoting a grilled chicken salad. In the commercial, Kim wears a slinky robe and has a picnic on her bed with the salad. She says, “I’m such a neat freak. Everything has got to be clean, crisp and tasty. And while the best things in life are messy, it’s fun to get clean.” While she has her line, “and while the best things in life are messy” the camera shows a drop of salad dressing falling in front of her breasts. If this line and this image aren’t outwardly sexually suggestive, I’m not sure what is. And when Kim says “it’s fun to get clean” she is conveniently shown in a bathtub. With images like the bed and the bathtub, it is hard to ignore the raunchy nature of this commercial.
At first glance, it is easy to laugh off these commercials because the content is so ridiculous. What does Paris Hilton washing a car in a bikini have to do with a hamburger? Why is Audrina Patridge eating a Teriyaki burger that is almost as thick as her stomach? Why does a commercial for a salad involve a bed and a bathtub? Yet, after you are done rolling your eyes, you start to realize that the advertisers at Carl’s Jr. knew exactly what they were doing when they made these commercials. Quite simply, sex sells, and might even be able to sell a hamburger here or there. But the greatest success in these commercials was getting their brand name out into the public media. Being notorious and pushing limits was not frowned upon, but instead seen as a shrewd business move. And as Paris Hilton herself proved to the world, sex sells, being controversial is cool, and if you don’t come along for the raunch culture ride, you will be frumpily left behind.
Paris Hilton
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__HZmDsYK7Q&feature=rec-LGOUT-exp_fresh+div-1r-4-HM
Audrina Patridge
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eB2MDYzx5OY
Kim Kardashian
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYWQ5sX0-5Q
CNN Article
http://money.cnn.com/2005/05/24/news/newsmakers/carls_ad/
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