A Web site touting Paris Hilton’s racy television spot for burger chain Carl’s Jr. crashed for four hours as Internet surfers raced to see the seductive swimsuit-clad socialite doused in suds.
The 30-second commercial, which features the hotel heiress washing a Bentley and chomping on Carl’s Jr.’s Spicy BBQ Burger in a stringy black swimsuit, has generated media attention since hitting the TV airwaves last Thursday.
Carl’s Jr., a unit of CKE Restaurants Inc. known for its male-focused ads and hefty burgers, at the same time launched a special Web site (http://www.spicyparis.com) featuring a special 60-second version of the ad.
A day later, the site crashed and was down for about four hours, the company said.
“It was a mixed blessing,” Carl’s Jr.’s executive vice president of marketing, Brad Haley, said in a statement. “It turned out that Paris was too hot for our servers.”
It was not the first time Hilton, star of the Fox reality TV series “The Simple Life,” has created a stir online. In late 2003, a homemade sex video of her with an ex-boyfriend spread rapidly via the Internet, making Hilton a household name.
Hilton’s Carl’s Jr. ad, created by Los Angeles-based Mendelsohn Zien Advertising LLC, will also be used to promote CKE’s Hardee’s hamburger chain. It will hit airwaves in those markets in mid-June.