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TV watchdog slams ‘sexed-up’ Parish Hilton burger ad
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.
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Reed Hastings to exit Netflix board as company posts steady growth
Shares dip 8 per cent as cofounder exits; revenue up 16 per cent to $12.25 billion.
MUMBAI- When the man who taught the world to binge decides to log off, the credits don’t just roll, they reset the script. Reed Hastings is set to step away from Netflix, marking the end of a defining chapter for a company that reshaped global entertainment even as its latest numbers suggest a business finding firmer footing.
Hastings, who co-founded Netflix nearly three decades ago and transformed it from a DVD-by-mail service into a streaming powerhouse, will not stand for re-election at the company’s annual meeting in June. While the company offered little detail on his next move beyond philanthropy and personal pursuits, the symbolic weight of his departure was immediate. Shares fell around 8 per cent following the announcement, underlining how closely Hastings remains tied to investor confidence and the company’s long-term vision.
The exit comes at a moment of recalibration. Netflix has been working to stabilise growth after a period of strategic turbulence, including the loss of a high-profile $72 billion deal involving Warner Bros. Discovery to Paramount Skydance, a setback that raised fresh questions about its ambitions in large-scale content consolidation. Yet, if the deal slipped, the fundamentals appear to be holding.
For the first quarter, Netflix reported revenue growth of 16 per cent to $12.25 billion, slightly ahead of expectations, while earnings per share nearly doubled to $1.23 from 66 cents a year ago. The company reaffirmed its full-year outlook, projecting double-digit revenue growth, expanding margins and strong free cash flow signals aimed squarely at calming post-announcement jitters.
In its shareholder communication, Netflix struck a careful balance between legacy and continuity. Its mission, it reiterated, remains unchanged: to serve a global audience with diverse storytelling across languages and cultures. The message was clear—while a founder may exit, the playbook stays in motion.
At the same time, the company is quietly redrawing that playbook. Netflix is leaning into newer formats such as video podcasts and live programming, including events like the World Baseball Classic in Japan, reflecting a broader industry shift where streaming, television and live experiences increasingly overlap. Advertising, once an afterthought in its subscription-first model, is now moving centre stage, with the company projecting ad revenues of $3 billion in 2026 roughly double current levels.
Still, some questions linger in the wings. Chief among them is how Netflix plans to deploy the $2.8 billion termination fee from the collapsed Warner Bros deal. With competition for premium content intensifying, capital allocation decisions in the coming quarters could prove as consequential as the leadership transition itself.
For now, Netflix finds itself in a familiar paradox: a company built on disruption navigating continuity. Hastings may be stepping off the stage, but the show by design goes on.
