Paris Hilton: It grabs you!

Los Angeles, May 25 (Reuters): A watchdog group known for its campaigns against on-air indecency is protesting a popular fast-food commercial featuring celebrity heiress Paris Hilton seductively washing both a car and herself.

The Parents Television Council said it is encouraging its more than 1 million members to voice their disapproval of the ad to Carl’s Jr., a hamburger chain owned by California-based CKE Restaurants.

The Los Angeles-based group was also weighing whether to ask the Federal Communications Commission to declare the ad indecent, according to spokeswoman Melissa Caldwell.

“The ad crosses any sort of boundaries about what’s appropriate for TV,” Caldwell said, adding that the spot was “basically soft porn.”

CKE Restaurants chief executive Andy Puzder took issue with the group’s characterisation of the ad as pornographic. “There is no nudity in this ad,” Puzder said in an interview. “It’s just a fast-food ad. I wish they would focus on something that might be more meaningful.”

Puzder added that the commercial has only run during adult television programmes and is aimed at Carl’s Jr’s target demographic of “young hungry guys.”

“It’s not as if we’re running this on SpongeBob SquarePants,” Puzder said, referring to the popular children’s television cartoon. “This ad is not targeted at kids.”

Federal regulations bar television and radio broadcasters from airing indecent material ? typically sexually explicit content ? except late at night when children are less likely to be in the audience.