The evolution of the Carl's Jr. girl, from Paris Hilton to Hayden Panettiere
A commercial starring Paris Hilton washing a car in a bikini while eating a burger created the blueprint for the brands, after the ad inspired protests and gained enough viewers to crash the Carl's Jr. website in 2005.
The ad was so transformative to the brands that Carl's Jr. and Hardee's brought Hilton back for another commercial in 2014 that served as a homage to the 2005 ad.
Carl's Jr./Hardee's followed up Hilton's commercial with another sexy ad starring actress and model Cameron Richardson. When people protested these and other ads, Pudzer says that the controversy only helped sales.
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Audrina Patridge, best known for her role in the reality show 'The Hills,' starred in an ad for the Teriyaki Burger in 2009.
Model and 'Top Chef' host Padma Lakshmi scored a 2009 Carl's Jr. spot after shouting out the chain in her cookbook, 'Tangy, Tart, Hot and Sweet.'
Over time, the position of Carl's Jr. girl became an enviable role. When Kim Kardashian starred in an ad in 2009, Pudzer says it was after her mother, Kris, called him to push for her daughter to get the part.
Online versions of Kate Upton's 2012 ad received more than 4.5 million views, with more than 120,000 people liking Carl's Jr. and Hardee's on Facebook after the sensual commercial ran.
As Carl's Jr. expands, there are new opportunities to titillate and offend. After an ad for the Memphis BBQ Burger was banned in New Zealand in 2013 for being sexually explicit and degrading, the chain released an even racier radio spot.
Familiar protests against the chain's hyper-sexual marketing recently broke out in Australia, when previously unknown actress Gemie Howe became the country's first Carl's Jr. girl.
The 2015 Carl's Jr. Super Bowl ad for the All-Natural Burger featuring model Charlotte McKinney quickly went viral. In addition to catching viewers' attention with McKinney's apparent lack of clothing, the ad attempt to appeal to millennials' craving more natural burger options.
While Carl's Jr. has aired some of the sexiest ads in the burger business, Pudzer says that boxer Ronda Rousey helped bring in a new era of stars with substance to the chain.
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Panettiere's position as a singer and actor similarly distinguishes her as more than just "gifted genetically," to borrow Pudzer's phrase. A new era of Carl's Jr. girls is upon us, in which sensually eating a burger needs to be backed with a few other talents.
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