This is a partial transcript from "The O'Reilly Factor," May 23, 2005, that has been edited for clarity.
Watch "The O'Reilly Factor" weeknights at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. ET and listen to the "Radio Factor!"
BILL O'REILLY, HOST: In the "Back of the Book" segment tonight: Carl's Jr. (search) is a burger franchise mainly out on the West Coast and in its wisdom has hired Paris Hilton to sell its product.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (singing): I love Paris in the springtime. I love Paris in the fall. I love Paris in the winter when it drizzles. I love Paris in the summer when it sizzles. I love Paris every moment.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'REILLY: Hungry?
Joining us now from Miami is Barbara Lippert, who works for "Ad Week" magazine and wrote about — an article about the situation. The CEO of Carl's Jr., Andrew Puzder (search), was supposed to appear this evening but canceled. He did, however, send us a statement that says he considers Ms. Hilton to be an "intriguing cultural icon." Indeed.
All right, Ms. Lippert. Is this a good spot? Is this going to sell burgers for Carl's or what?
BARBARA LIPPERT, "AD WEEK" MAGAZINE: First of all, if you need to get someone, you know, to get on their hands and knees and eat a Whopper, you know, she is the Einstein of gorging on all fours. You know, if you need — this particular skill set plays very well with her, if it's soaping, licking, you know, moving...
O'REILLY: Yes. But I don't care about her. All right?
LIPPERT: You've got her strong suit.
O'REILLY: She's doing it for money and attention. Doesn't matter why she's doing it.
(CROSSTALK)
O'REILLY: Carl's Jr., burgers, family people going, is this smart?
LIPPERT: Right. Well, their target market are these motorcycle-driving, beer-drinking men between 24 and 30 who love this stuff. They're like the bad boy advertisers of the fast food industry. It's only on the West Coast, so most people wouldn't even see it unless it gets all this free media.
But they particularly do this to be provocative, to get attention, to even be offensive...
O'REILLY: OK, OK.
LIPPERT: ...because they think their target market loves it.
O'REILLY: We — and by the way, we don't need to see any more of Paris Hilton. That's fine. You can get that off the screen.
LIPPERT: Right. Right.
O'REILLY: But let me say, every time I'm out on the West Coast, I go by, and I don't eat a lot of fast food. But I go by a Carl's Jr., and they're everywhere, I see families in there. I don't see the biker guys swilling beer. I see...
LIPPERT: Right, right.
O'REILLY: Mr. and Mrs. America, and four little kids screaming for a little burger and fries. Now, they're going to see this, and they're going to go, "What?"
(CROSSTALK)
O'REILLY: I mean, you're telling me that the bawdy boys are what they're targeting here? And you're not buying the cultural icon business that the dopey CEO is throwing out there, right?
LIPPERT: Well, what they're doing is they're doing something as semi-pornographic as they possibly can. And I think if you saw Paris Hilton in other commercials, she's just an annoying, B-list celebrity. And it's unbearable to listen to her talk.
Here, at least, they don't have her say a word and they use her for her particular skill set.
O'REILLY: But it's a burger joint. It's — and nobody's buying she's eating the burgers. The woman is anorexic. Not eating any burgers.
LIPPERT: Right. Well — she is eating the burgers, because that's her skill set. She knows how to do that. You know that...
(CROSSTALK)
O'REILLY: She's eating a burger there, but she's not really eating a burger.
LIPPERT: She understands how to do these particular things, and it's all dripping with sexual metaphors...
O'REILLY: Last question, Ms. Lippert.
LIPPERT: ... which I don't want to get into but you see them.
O'REILLY: Ms. Lippert...
LIPPERT: And also, it refers to the car wash scene in "Cool Hand Luke."
O'REILLY: Yes.
LIPPERT: Of course, it's an "arty" reference.
O'REILLY: I'm sure everybody remembers that vividly.
LIPPERT: Right.
O'REILLY: Now listen. If you're the CEO of this company, Puzder or whatever his name is, I forget, do you run this spot?
LIPPERT: Well...
O'REILLY: Yes or no, Ms. Lippert?
LIPPERT: Yes.
O'REILLY: All right.
LIPPERT: Because you get so much free media from shows like this!
O'REILLY: Free media. OK, all right, Paris Hilton eating burgers in her pajamas or whatever she's in. I don't even care.
LIPPERT: Pajamas would be a lot more — thanks.
O'REILLY: We appreciate you taking the time.
I don't make it up. It's there. It's America. I've got to report it.
Content and Programming Copyright 2005 Fox News Network, L.L.C. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Transcription Copyright 2005 eMediaMillWorks, Inc. (f/k/a Federal Document Clearing House, Inc.), which takes sole responsibility for the accuracy of the transcription. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No license is granted to the user of this material except for the user's personal or internal use and, in such case, only one copy may be printed, nor shall user use any material for commercial purposes or in any fashion that may infringe upon Fox News Network, L.L.C.'s and eMediaMillWorks, Inc.'s copyrights or other proprietary rights or interests in the material. This is not a legal transcript for purposes of litigation.
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox