Kardashian Hops into Bed with Carl’s Jr.

Megan Rowe

Kim Kardashian is parlaying one of her favorite things—a bed picnic—into a paying gig as the latest spokesbabe for Carl’s Jr. Kardashian, probably best known for her E! Entertainment “Keeping up with the Kardashians” reality TV show, has been tapped to promote the chain’s new line of grilled chicken entrée salads “that are indulgent, delicious and just as enticing as its newest commercial star,” the company says.

In keeping with her carefully honed image, the TV ads that will start running at the end of December show Karadashian enjoying her favorite salad in bed, where apparently she likes to set up little picnics.

The sultry celebrity will no doubt have a lot of company at that picnic next month, when Carl’s Jr. pushes the campaign into the social media realm. On Jan. 13, Kardashian will host “The Ultimate Salad Lunch Date,” a live event on the company’s Faceook page. During the interactive lunch, she has agreed to chat with participants via webcam while munching on one of the salads—presumably from her usual spot in bed. Any lucky customer who purchases one of the salads between Dec. 30 and Jan. 12 will receive a code granting access to ask Kim questions during the “date.” Even without a code, anyone can check out the lunch via streaming video on the page.

Carl’s Jr. has also created an augmented reality portion of the promotion, with a 3D version of Kardashian bidding guests to join her for the lunch. Following the invitation, viewers can have the 3D image of Kim twirl, blow a kiss, strike a pose “and more.” Carl’s Jr. locations are also distributing promotional cups featuring the new salads and Kardashian.

“Who better to help make people aware of these delicious new salads than Kim Kardashian?” observes Brad Haley, Carl’s Jr. executive v.p. of marketing. “Kim is very hot with both young guys and young gals.” He may be understating reality: Googling “Kim Kardashian” yields a list of 14 million possibilities.

Carl’s Jr. has mastered the art of milking its short-lived but provocative ad campaigns (e.g., a burger ad featuring a bikini-clad Paris Hilton lathering up a car) for major publicity. We expect the latest promotion to generate similar hoopla.