Carl’s Jr. Claims Kate Upton Campaign a Success: 120,000 Additional Facebook Likes

Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s brands have long had a reputation for outputting some sexy, star-studded commercials to promote new menu offerings. Their latest promotional vehicle, Kate Upton, was no exception, netting both Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s Facebook Fan pages over 120,000 new Likes since the initial ad aired. Carl’s Jr’s Facebook page alone now sees over 1 million Likes.

The partnership between Kate and the CKE brands was part strategic, part serendipitous. When she was signed on as the spokeswoman, neither CKE nor Kate herself knew she would be chosen as the 2012 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue cover model. That announcement, which was made less than two weeks after the commercials were shot, undoubtedly hep propel interest in all things related to Kate, including her Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s ads.

Hardees.com brand site reported a 104 percent increase in site visits (over the previous week) once their :60 Director’s cut video was posted. Carlsjr.com reported an 83 percent increase in visits in the same scenario. The brother-sister brands have also noted that more than 5,000 tweets have mentioned the product, Kate (@KateUpton), the ad, @CarlsJr and @Hardees. The campaign has also received parody from the likes of Hulk Hogan and Jay Leno.

The :60 Director’s cut video has garnered the better part of 4 million views on YouTube. There’s still no word on the sales of the Southwest Patty Melt, but it looks like there’s been some decent brand recognition resulting from the campaign.

What do you think of Kate Upton as the new Carl’s Jr. spokesperson?