Hefner Ads Too Close for College's Comfort
By Amanda Covarrubias
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
(Nov 21, 2003)
Thomas Aquinas College is known for its Great Books curriculum
that focuses exclusively on the original texts of Aristotle,
Plato, Shakespeare and other great thinkers who helped shape
Western civilization.
Needless to say, Hugh Hefner and Playboy magazine are not
on the reading list.
More importantly, Hefner and all he stands for are not something
the respected Catholic institution in Ventura County wants
to be associated with, officials said.
That is why Andrew Puzder, president and chief executive
of CKE Restaurants Inc., which owns Carl's Jr. and has featured
Hefner in recent commercials, resigned this week from the
college's board of governors.
"Thomas Aquinas College stands for principles that are
in direct conflict with those of Hefner and Playboy,"
college President Thomas Dillon said Thursday in a statement.
"I spoke with Mr. Puzder yesterday about this issue,
and it was agreed that he would resign from the college's
board, effective immediately."
Puzder was unavailable for comment, said corporate spokeswoman
Christie Cooney.
Puzder joined the 26-member college board in January 1998
when his predecessor, company founder Carl Karcher, retired.
Karcher is a devout Catholic who has given generously to the
small, liberal arts college, said Anne Forsyth, director of
college relations. "We've retained great admiration for
Carl Karcher and have a close relationship with him,"
she said.
At issue is a TV advertising campaign launched this month
by Carpinteria-based CKE starring the 77-year-old Playboy
founder.
In one 30-second spot that he shares with three young women,
Hefner, wearing his trademark silk pajamas, flashes his Cheshire
cat grin and talks about his love of variety.
"People always ask me, 'Hey, Hef, do you have favorites?'
" he says, coyly. "I tell them no. It's not about
that. I love them all. It just depends what I'm in the mood
for."
Hefner then proceeds to devour a bacon cheeseburger, while
a narrator comments, "Some guys don't like the same thing
night after night."
Puzder explained the decision to tap Hefner as a spokesman
for the fast-food chain in a Nov. 3 statement announcing the
new campaign.
"Who better to deliver the message of variety than Hugh
Hefner," Puzder said. "We're appealing to an audience
of young, hungry guys who expect a quality product but want
to have something different from time to time. As a pop icon,
Hefner appeals to our target audience and credibly appeals
to our message of variety."
But the message is a far cry from the one promoted by the
300-student college that sits in an isolated, emerald green
valley between Santa Paula and Ojai.
The four-year school, known for its collection of rare texts,
offers a classical education steeped in books from ancient
Greece through the Renaissance and beyond. The college's course
work is designed to teach students to think, reason and contemplate
the great questions of the ages, Dillon has said.
The college also adheres to its own strict code of conduct.
There is no visitation between the same-sex dorms and Masses
are said three times a day.
"It's common knowledge that Hugh Hefner and Playboy
stand for hedonism and unbridled pleasure-seeking, and that
is impossible to reconcile with what we stand for," Forsyth
said. "We are a Catholic college and we take that Catholicism
seriously. It is an essential part of what we are. We try
to encourage our tutors and students alike to pursue a life
of intellectual and moral virtue in a community strengthened
and safeguarded by a strong spiritual code."
Carl Olson, editor of the Catholic magazine Envoy, said he
was pleased the college took a stand against the Hefner ads
but said it would not stop Carl's Jr. or other companies from
using sexually suggestive material to sell products.
"It bothers us that a company founded by a Catholic
would be using a man in their commercials known to the world
because of his pornography," Olson said. "He's equating
a variety of burgers with a variety of sexual partners. What
is the connection between selecting a burger and your sex
life? It really takes the term 'meat market' to a different
level."
This article originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times
on November 21, 2003. Reprinted with express permission.
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