Carl’s Jr. is leaning back into the “bikinis and burgers” era after previously trying to retire it. The reboot started back in 2025, with a Super Bowl-adjacent social push featuring influencer Alix Earle – which drove social engagement. The brand saw a 91% jump in Instagram followers per Metricool and 2.5 million TikTok views in 48 hours. For a brand that once worried “distractions” were eclipsing the food story, the distraction seems to have at least boosted vanity metrics.
Now the chain is reviving its Paris Hilton car-wash fame with “Starwash,” a nostalgia-forward spot that adds an AI layer: an “AI-powered” wash staffed by clone-bots modeled after Hilton, pulling viewers into an early-2000s vibe while selling a buy-one-get-one-free deal. The narrative is intentionally self-aware—ketchup incident, dinged-up car, then a transformation into a Bentley as a clear callback to the original campaign’s luxury-car shtick. Hilton filmed parts of the ad, with creative studio Native Foreign building out the Y2K-meets-AI execution.
AI is being used here as a bit of a time machine to recycle iconic (and controversial) brand moments for modern social attention, alongside a wider industry swing back to nostalgia (see Dunkin’, Gap, T-Mobile) and, more contentiously, sexualized “male gaze” advertising. Carl’s Jr. is not alone in that cultural whiplash – other campaigns (Dr. Squatch, American Eagle, David Protein) have recently sparked debate over where “cheeky” ends and “creepy” begins.
Read more at AdWeek.