PLAYBOY - HEFNER'S FAST FOOD AD SPARKS OUTRAGE AT CALIFORNIA COLLEGE

PLAYBOY magazine founder HUGH HEFNER's role as a spokesman for a fast food company has caused so much outrage, the man who hired him has been forced to resign from his post at a liberal arts college.

Leaders of California's THOMAS AQUINAS COLLEGE were so upset by the CARL'S JR TV commercial, featuring 77-year-old Hefner, they met with ANDREW PUZDER - the chief executive of parent company CKE RESTAURANTS INCORPORATED - and asked him to resign from the school's board of governors.

ANN FORSYTH, a spokeswoman for the small SANTA PAULA college, says, "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."

Puzder has agreed to step down from his post.

In the commercial, a pyjama-clad Hefner is surrounded by beautiful women, talking about how men require variety - just before he bites into a bacon cheeseburger.

He adds that he loves bacon cheeseburgers, but wouldn't have them for dinner every night, touting the array of choices at Carl's Jr.