I wonder if CKE marketing guy Brad Haley had his tongue planted in his cheek when he described Paris as a "highly exposed figure"?

The Press Release goes on to say that the chain will "propagate the commercials". Is that a tweak or what?

These guys know how to ride out a storm of umbrage. They milk it for all it's worth --- just like Paris.

More Paris Hilton Ads
Forbes.com
Faces Of The Week: June 13 - 17

Extract:

... Brad Haley, a CKE marketing vice president, acknowledged, "We consider it a racy ad. It was designed to be a racy ad, but we don't consider it pornographic." The Associated Press quoted a press release by Haley as declaring that Hilton "fascinates Carl's Jr.'s most loyal customers, 'young, hungry guys,' as well as 'young, hungry gals.'" And the burgermeisters declared that catching the public eye with a highly exposed figure such as Hilton--ranked No. 55 on the Forbes Celebrity 100 list--is a sensible recourse for a firm lacking the media budget of giant rivals like McDonald's[ (nyse: MCD - news - people ) and Yum! Brands (nyse: YUM - news - people ). Thus, CKE Restaurants on Wednesday said it will propagate the commercials to the Midwest and Southeast, this time to push the Spicy BBQ Thickburger from its Hardee's unit.