Who Buys These Things?

Previously in this space, we’ve discussed a number of the advertising stunts pulled by Burger King – or, more precisely, on behalf of Burger King by the loonies they keep hiring to handle advertising for the chain. The ads aren’t really remarkable in themselves; a lot of firms try out experimental advertising techniques every day, and some of them are even more bizarre and distasteful than the ones with the “Freaky King” or a woman contemplating an elongated hamburger. What makes the Burger King spots so unusual is that the product they’re advertising is neither edgy nor appropriate to a demographic that would be receptive to avant-garde advertising; it’s fast food targeting primarily families and young adults (as fast food traditionally has), and the fact that most Burger King stores are franchise operations, where the owners are forced to chip in for the national advertising activities but are given no input into what those activities will be. This makes the most recent television spots even more bizarre than usual…

It’s possible that these ads may not have made it to the market you’re in, or may have been pulled before you read this post, but you can find the description, complete with pictures, on The Fox Dallas affiliate website if you want to. Basically, the ad is a mock infomercial about a Burger King pillowcase which is printed with the company’s new breakfast menu. Burger King has not fared well against the McDonald’s breakfast offerings, and has been losing ground since the very successful “McCafe” line of coffee drinks has been offered to the public. As previously noted, they’re trying to fight back by offering “Seattle’s Best” coffee (a Starbuck’s product) and, apparently, by expanding and promoting their new breakfast line. All of which is perfectly reasonable, of course, except for the nature of these new ads…

In the television spot, an actor makes use of the new pillowcase and goes to sleep dreaming of the new breakfast menu. When he wake up, however, we learn that the opposite side of the pillowcase has an image of the plastic-faced “Freaky King” advertising figure – the overall image being of the actor waking up face-to-face with the King’s smiling image. It’s a remarkably creepy sight, which has been widely mocked over the Internet and generated a number of complaints from franchise holders, who once again feel left out of the loop by a market choice they would never have made on their own. Certainly, it’s hard to imagine how this will contribute to sales of the new breakfast products, let alone help the local franchise holders to take market share away from McDonald’s. But there’s another aspect to the story: the company was actually selling these pillowcases on the Internet for a few days, and in just that short time 4,450 people appear to have purchased one…

Personally, I have to agree with the franchise holders: the ad is creepy, and its utility in getting people to switch brands of fast-food is questionable, but if the purpose of this effort was to make more people aware of the new Burger King breakfast menu, it appears to be working: people all over the Internet who would normally have no interest in either fast food or advertising are talking about this ad campaign. Whether you regard the “Freaky King” as a misguided effort to create a memorable advertising image or a satiric parody of the competition’s iconic spokesclown, it’s had to deny that the various ad spots – and this new campaign in particular – are drawing attention to the brand. For example, were YOU thinking about Burger King’s new breakfast menu before you read this post?