Hayden Panettiere does Carls Jr. ad: bad career move or doesn’t matter?


Very mild spoiler for Nashville follows
Hayden Panettiere’s character Juliette Barnes hasn’t yet returned to Nashville, so we can assume the two episodes which have aired so far after the midseason return were filmed while Hayden was seeking treatment for postpartum depression. She’s since come out of rehab and has been grateful for the amount of support she’s received from the public. We’ve seen her at a few events and she’s looked very well. Now she’s starring in a Carl’s Jr. and Hardees ad, for their new Midnight Moonshine burger. I guess it dovetails with her country singer Nashville character as they show her pouring some moonshine to add to the sauce for their new marketing strategy burger.

Us Magazine is touting Hayden’s hot “post baby body” in this ad, where she’s seen in Daisy Duke shorts and low cut blouse. This doesn’t jibe with her supposedly eating a 910 calorie burger, but I guess she could eat that if she watched her intake the rest of the day. I really dislike these Carls Jr. ads featuring hot models eating a meal that they wouldn’t consider on a cheat day. I guess that’s the point though, it’s not like anyone considers those commercials realistic. This makes me side-eye Hayden, she’s dissimilar to someone like Paris Hilton (remember her Carls Jr. ad?) in that she has a real acting career, but she probably made high six figures at least for this commercial. So many celebrities are doing ads that it’s no longer considered low rent.

As a sidestory I heard an episode of NPR’s This American Life last year that discussed the way Carls Jr. comes up with new frankenfoods and strange food combinations to market. It was both fascinating and disgusting at the same time. This moonshine burger isn’t a typical food mashup, like garlic knot pizza crust or the most awesome mashup of all time, the Doritos taco, but you can see how some fast food execs would consider moonshine sauce highly marketable to a certain demographic. I live in the south and there are Hardees everywhere. (Hardees is basically the same as Carl’s Jr., correct me if I’m wrong.) There’s also moonshine in Mason Jars at the liquor store. It’s made by a big company and designed to look like it’s from a backyard still. People eat/drink that sh*t up here.

The 21st Annual Critics' Choice Awards

Screen Shot 2016-03-27 at 8.00.45 PM_edited-1

Hayden Panettiere at The 21st Annual Critics' Choice Awards in LA

photos credit: FameFlynet

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23 Responses to “Hayden Panettiere does Carls Jr. ad: bad career move or doesn’t matter?”

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  1. willful ignorance says:

    Guess she a) wanted the money and b) to remind people she is ‘hot’

  2. Trin says:

    I can only think of Paris Hilton. -_-

  3. Gomez says:

    Her poor boobs in that dress in that last pic!

  4. GoodNamesAllTaken says:

    First, the underboob. It looks good on no one. Hear me. No one.

    Second, I lived in LA about 25 years ago, and they had a Carl’s Jr. It’s wasn’t like Hardy’s at all then. I mean, they sold hamburgers, but they were a baby step up from most fast food burgers. That may have changed, though, and I haven’t eaten in either one since then.

    Last, I’ve never tasted moonshine, but I thought it was famous for tasting terrible? Just strong alcohol, but not good or anything, so why would you want it in your food? I know moonshine had a brief moment a few years ago, but I thought that was odd.

    • Little Darling says:

      Moonshine is incredibly strong with alcoholic content way high. I had cherries soaked in moonshine once and they about burned a hole in my tongue. However, HUGE demographic for moonshine.

    • here's Wilson says:

      I doubt they are using anything similar to real moonshine flavor, probably closer to that liquor store crap they market as shine. Real moonshine sets your mouth on fire in a very unpleasant way and tastes like hell but if gettin drunk is what your after its worth every penny.

      Where I live in southwestern Pennsylvania and further down into the Appalachians there is lot of history -and pride – that goes into making your own moonshine. I was just offered some at a funeral last week lol. Country people. 🙂

  5. Tig says:

    I really don’t get her push to be “sexy”
    all of a sudden. I think of these commercials as starring women who need a career boost, such as the young woman who clearly wanted to be Kate Upton 2.0. Hayden is a good actress- I wish I could shake the feeling she seems a bit lost professionally right now.

  6. Patricia says:

    I really don’t mind this commercial as much as some of the Carl’s Jr, she just looks like a hungry woman who is taking this burger SERIOUSLY. It’s not nearly as objectifying as some of their past commercials, in my opinion.

    I really feel for her with the PPD. It must have been intense for her to go into a rehab facility for it. I had very overwhelming Post Partum Anxiety (PPA) for about four months after my son was born. It was incredibly hard to get through the day, but I was nowhere near needing to go to a facility. It’s a hard thing to even look back upon. Every minute my mind was screaming “danger! Danger! Baby is not OK!”. Anyway I know that’s a different thing than PPD but I just really feel for her, she must have been in a hellish place.
    I’m glad she’s talking about it. We should all talk about it if we’ve been there. Bringing another person into this world can be the most joyful and the most painful thing, even at the same exact time. She’s doing a great service by being open about it. I wish her the best.

    • Meghan says:

      I had this talk with my husband last night. Baby isn’t even due until mid-August but I was like “if I tell you that I am sad or struggling or upset or any range of emotions, you have to take me seriously and help me” “why?” “because I could flush the baby down the toilet!” “you would not!” “I’m not joking, post partum is a serious thing, anything could happen if it isn’t taken seriously.” I know I have a super supportive partner and family around us, but I am still worried about what can happen.

  7. perplexed says:

    This commercial. doesn’t look as terrible as I thought it was going to be. Even her outfit seems more modest than I was expecting. Granted, the commercial goes with the usual metaphors, but her shorts look longer than the ones Leann Rimes wore to the kids’ game.

    If Oscar winners can do commercials nowadays, I don’t see why tv stars can’t. I could have sworn I heard Julia Roberts’s voice on a credit card commercial…

  8. JenniferJustice says:

    This ad is tame compared to other Carl’s ads, but still, why go this route when she already has a career and reputation? Seems try-hard and desperate, but then she’s always struck me as needing very badly to be seen as sexy. Is it over-analyzing to think doing a Carl’s Jr. ad, even a tame one, is not good for a professional actress whose just getting over PPD? Maybe she needs the ego boost, but it seems low-class and not a good choice for a woman trying to get over depression – like not something to be proud of. IDK.

  9. Brittney B. says:

    I guess she isn’t a vegetarian anymore… her picture’s still on the wall at a vegan restaurant down the street. At least we still have Joaquin Phoenix and Emily Deschanel.

    Can’t stomach the ad itself, so I can’t comment on sexism or lack thereof. But I’m definitely sick of companies selling meat by treating women like pieces of meat.* And this is where I get a little off-topic and try my damnedest not to sound “preachy”:

    It’s no coincidence that animals and women are depicted as commodities to market and consume, often simultaneously. Unless, of course, you (the general “you”) know them personally and have an emotional connection that serves you in some way… which is exactly why animal activists focus on the similarities between pigs and dogs, and why PSAs still have to remind men that rape victims are daughters and mothers and sisters. This commercial may not be the best example — again, didn’t watch it — but I’m just pointing out a larger theme that sadly still seems to drive most marketing campaigns.

    *not that the other side isn’t guilty too… the misogynists and fat-shamers at PeTA do NOT speak for every vegan/vegetarian/animal activist

  10. DesertReal says:

    Midnight Moonshine is effing nast. If they wanted to so this right they should’ve gone the Climax route (the best legal otc ‘shine money can buy). That stuff served neat is better than any vodka or gin on the planet.
    And I was born up north, raised in the south, and lived almost a decade in NY before settling in Pittsburgh with my silver fox.
    I know my booze.
    But good on Hayden for paying her bills and maintaining her image in a tough time. Hardees/Carl Jr is alright..but their moonshine sauce recipe is the biggest misstep in this commercial that I can see.

  11. Donna says:

    I thought she was a vegan?

  12. NeoCleo says:

    I hate those frickin commercials. I refuse to eat at Carl’s Jr. strictly because I hate their ads so much.

    No class.

  13. Dee says:

    What’s her career otherwise?

    Sorry, but I’ve never actually seen her in anything besides an SVU episode waaay back lol. And bad boob job ftw.

    • thatonechick says:

      She was in Heros and currently staring in Nashville
      She did things when she was little too, but all I can remember at the moment is Remember the Titans!

  14. Pickle says:

    I remember when HW celebs would only endorse products if they did it in Japan. Now I guess media is so fragmented it’s not such a big deal.

  15. Sarah says:

    My first reaction is that it’s weird to see proper celebrities or actors in ads but on my first trip to USA I saw it was normal….. Elizabeth Banks touting some property crap, Jennifer Garner and airline miles, actors voicing the nasty side effects of fad drugs. It’s ALL very foreign and weird to me ( by the way, do Americans find ads for prescription pills WEIRD?!?!? They shouldnt be allowed to advertise that stuff. Your dr should decide what you need and prescibe whichever fits you best)……

    But yeah who would turn down 10 grand + to be in a one off ad? I wouldn’t besmirch any celebrity for doing something I’d do in a heartbeat. Times are tough. Life is expensive. Get that cash girl!