MUMBAI: US burger chain Carl Jr's latest TVC featuring a scantily clad hotel heiress and reality TV star Parish Hilton has sparked outrage from furious family groups.

The commercial showcases the infamous hotel heiress and star of two sex tapes in a skimpily clad swimsuit as she soaps and rinses a black Bentley. That she also takes a bite out of a Carl's Jr. hamburger almost seems as an afterthought. The ad for the jalapeno-laden 'Spicy BBQ Six-Dollar Burger' ends with Hilton's signature tag line, 'That's hot'.

 
 
The Los Angeles-based Parents Television Council, a media watchdog group known for its campaigns against on-air indecency, has characterised the ad as "soft-core porn", calling it inappropriate for television. The group also plans to mobilize more than 1 million members to protest and is considering asking the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to declare the ad as obscene and indecent.

According to agency reports, A Carl Jr. stated it chose Hilton to star in the ad because "she is an intriguing cultural icon and the 'it girl' of the moment." A Carl Jr. had also stated that Hilton fascinated the burger brands most loyal customers, who were 'young, hungry guys as well as young, hungry gals'.

 
 
This is not the first time the company has taken the racy route with its TVCs. One ad featured a woman eating a burger while riding a mechanical bull. Another starred Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner and several Playmates.