I thought I was one of the liberals around here, but that commercial was pornographic and offensive as all get out, IMO.
Perhaps it’s because most of my TV viewing consists of Sesame Street, et al.
I don’t know about ‘softcore’, but it sure does put me off burgers for a while.
Especially Carl’s.
Not that they have them where I am, but FWIW.
Paris is a nasty, scrawny, poster child for much that is wrong with our society.
Yeccch.
I seem to recall something from one of Joseph Campbell’s books, read many years ago, where he’s talking about James Joyce’s definition of art vs. pornography. Campbell quoted Joyce as saying that true art is a work that provides a moment of “aesthetic arrest”; that is, you get this “wow” moment looking at the work, when your perception transcends its limitations and you tap in to some insight that you otherwise would not get. Thus, that’s how you get the difference between art and porn; that’s why some pictures of naked people are art, whereas other naked pictures are just porn–you just don’t get that same insight looking at porn as you do a true work of art.
I think it’s a pretty decent definition, though I usually add one other caveat: I think the difference develops not just from the content, but also out of the motivation of the person(s) creating the work. If you have a naked woman in a work that tries to incorporate a vision and make a statement to the viewer, that’s art. If pictures of naked women–or semi-naked or indeed even fully-clothed–are created as part of work designed to use other people’s baser, animal instincts in order to get them to do something–like, say, fork over some of their money–that’s porn. That’s why I think that any sort of “pull your dick” advertising is porn: they’re using the viewer’s animal nature (“man like see pretty lady”) to manipulate the viewer into forking over the cash to buy this burger/beer/automobile/whatever.
So, yes, I’d say the Hilton commercial qualifies as porn. Should it be banned? No. Not just for the free speech issue, but also because the ad can be used to teach the kids a valuable lesson. When the ad comes on, you point to the tube and say, “See, kids. That’s what people mean when they say ‘slut.’”
Lesson learned.
Oh, and one other thing: I can’t let all the hating on CJ food go by. I’ve long felt that CJ has the best burger of all the fast food chains, especially the Double Western Bacon Cheeseburger. I’ve never eaten one and had the sense that it was inferior meat; quite the contrary. So while I agree about Carl Karcher being quite the right-wing nutjob, and maybe not worthy of my patronage, I still have trouble resisting the occasional lunch at his restaurants. Though if I keep getting Paris Hilton visions in my head every time I approach a CJ, I might find it easier to turn around and go home.
The powers that be at Carl’s Jr. were fully aware when they were presented with this ad that a great many people would be offended beyond measure. They were also acutely aware that, in this day and age, some of these offended audience members would voice their objections over the airwaves in a most stentorian manner. And these same slick executives cackled with glee with the knowledge that the ad would be aired over and over again by the news media (at no cost to the Carl’s Jr. Corp), generating a nuclear chair reaction of publicity. And there’s no such thing as “bad” publicity, right?
The whole thing serves as just another lesson to the conservatively-minded – a lesson that most will, of course, fail to absorb. When something that you find offensive appears in the media, the most effective thing to do is to ignore it. The more you screech and hoot and holler, the more free publicity it gets. The louder you howl that the airwaves should be free of such filth, the more people become exposed to the very same filth. Get used to it, because that’s simply the way it is.
Personally, I don’t happen to find the ad pornographic, though I do like what Not a Tame Lion says on the subject. I do find the ad to be in extremely poor taste (as is virtually anything including Paris Hilton). It certainly does not make me any more likely to visit Carl’s Jr. the next time I’m in the mood for a burger or a car wash.
That’s the really sad part. After the ultrasound commercial, the ads with people getting condiment stains all over themselves, the ads that showed stupid men doing lazy stupid things, and the ads where eating a burger was some testosterone-soaked macho-bullshit ritual, this is the best ad Carl’s Jr has come up with in ages.
I don’t like the commercial at all, just like many of the other posters in this thread. That, however, wasn’t the question.
Is it soft porn? Not even close. Porn requires (a) nudity and/or (b) sexual content, right? She’s not nude, and there’s no sex or implication of sex.
~twitch~
Worse than McD?
~twitch~
~runs screaming~ AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
-the4thmooncat (she who has a morbid fear of McD’s)
I don’t know about the burger, but Paris was hot and spicy 
I thought that it was a car commercial until she pulled out the hamburger. It’s a pretty silly juxtaposition. Wouldn’t the burger get all wet and soggy?
I like Carl’s Jr. better than McDonalds, but there aren’t too many around here and they’re more expensive. Their ads suck, but TiVo means I get to skip all that crap.
I liked the ad. I almost wonder if Carl’s/Harides did not fund the group protesting the ad.
Further, I think it would be quite amusing if when her present career downturns we all find out Paris is really a near-genius who has been fooling us all with the Dumb Blonde routine. This would make a nice Saturday Night Live Skit.
Also, where can I get the music for this commercial?
Amusing? Try fantastic or unbelievable. Have you actually watched an interview with her? I sat through one of her Letterman appearances. Near-genius? To pull off this level of vapidity this convincingly, Id say more like supra-genius. If that turns out to be the case, I will worship the ground she walks upon to the end of her days. That would be the greatest exhibition of acting talent in history.
I will say this. The only money she actually earns is from modeling, or from her idiotic TV show. But said TV show requires her to be filmed on video, with little makeup and her hair looking like ass most of the time. There are not many models who would agree to that. Just sayin’, is all.
The squirting? The way she positions her butt? The way she handles creamy bubbles? Not implying sex?
What on earth are those motions implying?
A couple random thoughts:
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At first I thought it was a commercial for the car (and/or Paris’ next porn video).
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It could get worse. Imagine a “Burger King vs. Carl’s Jr.” ad with Paris and Hootie (or, worse, the big plastic king guy) mud wrestling.
Ah, always nice to get acknowledgement. Thanks.
These crabs are itching me like a motherfuck?
Whoa, I haven’t seen THAT Paris Hilton video!
IIRC they were soapy bubbles. If you saw creamy bubbles, you were watching one of Ms Hiltons home videos. 
Its the O.
Who masturbates to soft-core porn anyway?