Hardee-Har-Harrible Burger PR Campaign

Here's an item, in its entirety and with the owner's permission, from a mailing list that goes out exclusively to the more-or-less working press (sorry, not allowed to provide a link):

SPECIAL REPORT: PIMPING FAT AS A PRESS ACTIVITY
Every once in a while, we come across a PR program that is so innately insensitive to press people we feel compelled to share it. This one, on behalf of the Carl's Jr. (West) & Hardee's (East) "Spicy Buffalo Chicken Sandwich" asks press people to shill in some especially unpleasant ways. The first stops are at 2 Web sites. One offers images & video clips of Ashley Hartman, the skimpily-wardrobed young blonde actress from their commercials, in which double entendres about breasts & nudity are a big play. You're supposed to fill in a Web form to send an e-mail that a friend will misinterpret as being an invitation from Ashley to rendezvous at the restaurant, only you surprise & fool your friend by showing up instead; they send you a coupon for a dollar off the sandwich as your "reward". (Note that they just brought you & your friend to the restaurant to spend your money there, while the coupon saves you enough to consider a quarter of your sandwich as free). The other Web site expects you to put their graphics & links on your Web site; the only difference between what they're asking & an affiliate program is that they're not offering any payments in return. We're supposed to also buy into promoting the sandwich as the latest in "boneless hot wing technology". Despite their wishes, we boned up: according to their customer phone center, their Spicy Buffalo Chicken Sandwich (just under $4) has 2.59 grams of sodium & 780 calories, of which 330 are from its 36 grams of fat (6 grams saturated). Gee, that $1-off coupon is like getting 9 grams of fat on the house! To recap, they're asking press people to pimp their sandwich & their fake-date-with Ashley promo in exchange for a coupon. We're not seeing respect on that menu.

Some PR and marketing campaigns are honest mistakes and some are the results of mishandling. Then there are the ones that are so poorly conceived and structured that you have to wonder whether the company's competitor broke into the corporate headquarters and left a folder labeled "Do this" on some marketing wunderkind's desk. I haven't seen the PR materials, but if this report is accurate, then I'm surprised that the company's shareholders aren't storming the gates. Oh, wait, they won't have to because management forgot to lock 'em.