• January 11, 2010

Carl's Jr., whose sexy commercials targeting its "hungry guy" core audience have previously featured Padma Lakshmi, Paris Hilton and other hotties, is reporting that its latest celebrity, reality star Kim Kardashian, has them all beat.

A spot showing a scantily clothed Kardashian eating one of the chain's new Grilled Chicken Salads, in bed, hit the airwaves and YouTube just before Christmas. Through Jan. 8, publicity around the commercial had already resulted in about 258 million media impressions -- more than three times the number generated by any one previous celebrity, and more than all of those celebs combined, according to the chain.

The first commercial gained free exposure in outlets ranging from People magazine to "The Jay Leno Show," CNBC's FastMoney and USA Today, and generated 1.8 million views on YouTube, Carl's Jr. said. Related Kardashian and salad videos have generated another 2.1 million views.

To add fuel to the fire, on Jan. 11, a "too hot for TV" director's cut of the first commercial was posted on the chain's Facebook page, which will have it exclusively for 24 hours.

In addition, Kardashian will host a live streaming "lunch date" on the Facebook page on Jan. 13. Fans who buy a salad in advance will get a code enabling them to ask questions and interact with Kardashian during the event. A virtual 3-D event invite is being featured under a "Salads Are Hot" tab on the brand's Facebook page. --Karlene Lukovitz