Looks like sex didn’…

Looks like sex didn’t sell as well as they thought it would.

The hot controversy over Paris Hilton’s sexy burger ads for Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s has not translated into a surge of sales at the fast-food outlets.

CKE Restaurants, parent company of both chains, says Carl’s Jr. posted a 1.7 percent rise in same-store sales for the four weeks ending June 20, while Hardee’s notched an increase of 0.7 percent.

Yes, Andrew Puzder (president & CEO of CKE) is putting a positive spin on it, suggesting that people who came in asking for “the Paris Hilton burger” would not have otherwise purchased anything at all. That’s a bit of a stretch. Looks like, at most, this may have increased the demand for Paris Hilton video on the ‘net, but it did virtually nothing for sales.

Meanwhile, Boddie-Noel Enterprises, which owns around 330 Hardee’s franchises, says they’re not going to run the ad in their area (four southeastern states). This is the first time they’ve done that, and it may not be the last.

The conventional wisdom is that all publicity is good publicity as long as they spell your name right. It’s possible that it’s time to unlearn that.

(Cross-posted at Stones Cry Out. Comments welcome.)

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