Alix Earle’s latest stint as Carl’s Jr.’s burger girl leaves your mouth hanging open — and not just for the decadent cheeseburger she holds.
Earle, dressed in a scantily star-shaped bikini and a low-rise denim skirt, perches atop a convertible, presenting the Carl’s Jr. Hangover Burger. At first glance, the ad seems like a bizarre satire of what America supposedly represents: burgers, bikinis and blonde bombshells.
The TikTok influencer joins Kim Kardashian, Paris Hilton and Kate Upton as a model for the West Coast burger chain, but also helped reignite a political debate. Conservatives embraced Earle’s not-so-conservative bikini commercial, while liberal America criticizes it for promoting unrealistic body image and anti-feminist ideals.
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Known for her TikTok videos, NFL player boyfriend Braxton Berrios and an it-girl posse that never seems to stop partying, Earle commands a massive online following. With more than 11 million followers amassed from just Instagram and TikTok, she holds an ungodly amount of social capital. Naturally, she would be the perfect choice for the revival of the Carl’s Jr. burger girl.
The commercial seemed to land for those who were unfamiliar with her stardom, even though it contradicts much of what she promotes on social media. Earle is known for speaking candidly about her struggles with body image, confidence and acne. On her podcast Hot Mess, she’s opened up about her battle with diet culture and disordered eating.”
For a woman who strives to be a role model for younger girls online, Earle certainly perpetuates extreme beauty standards. Her chiseled abs appearing in the same frame as the double-patty, bacon-and-cheese-filled burger feels like a hot red contradiction.
But if you look past Earle’s model-esque figure, the oversized burger and the iconic Hollywood set, the contradictions and surface-level hypocrisies start to make sense. In slow motion, she takes a bite of the burger, sending ketchup spraying onto a man’s face.
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This disheveled man, sprawled out in a wife beater tank, seems to parody the very people awed by Earle’s figure and role in the ad. Ironically, though, this same group has embraced the burger ad as a fast-food-themed manifesto for returning to “American values.”
YouTube comments celebrating supposed traditionalism displayed in the commercial reveal how comically the ad has been misinterpreted. The commercial is deliberately impossible and over the top.
For the body positivity crusaders, Earle’s bikini clad figure isn’t meant to be an aspiration, but another element of this humorous Americana fantasy. Instead of offering a credible commentary and reflection of American culture, Carl’s Jr. is poking fun at what America deems “correct.”
This tongue-in-cheek attitude shines through the extravagant fireworks, hordes of extras and Earle’s over the top costume. For some, the ad feels like a clear attempt to put America back on track, but its comedy has sailed right over their heads — into a fictional world where bikini models devour burgers and “real women” drape themselves over convertibles every day.
