Yet Another Bad Choice

Several times over the past few years I’ve written in this space about the frequently baffling marketing programs attempted by the Burger King Corporation, and the backlash from both the consumers and their own franchise holders as a result of these occasional crimes against good taste. The “Freaky King” ads alone would be enough to make me want to fire my ad agency, but after episodes like the marginally obscene print ads for their foot-long burger and internal management fiascos like demanding that their franchisees sell products for below cost in order to align with national advertising campaigns, I have begun to question why the people running this company haven’t been committed for their own safety. And then I learned that the company had decided to open their newest overseas operation by insulting the royal family of the country they are just about to launch in…

According to an article on the BBC News site, Burger King is about to start operating in Belgium, and have been running an online ad that asks people to choose between a picture of the “Freaky King” mascot character and a picture of King Philippe, the actual monarch of that country, under the heading of “Who is the King?” Apparently, if you select the picture of the actual King, you get a pop-up message asking if you’re sure about that, considering that he’s not the one who will be cooking your fries. A spokesman for the Royal Family has issued a statement saying that they do not approve of this tactic, and would not have given permission for Burger King to make use of the King’s image if anyone had actually asked them…

I’m not familiar with Belgian popular culture, so I can’t tell you what level of offense this ad campaign with rise to with the people being subjected to it. There are places in the world where the royal family would simply ignore this kind of thing, and consider it nothing more than part of being a public figure in an increasingly vulgar world. There are other countries where this sort of campaign would result in the company being sued, banished from the kingdom, or just having all of their local assets confiscated and all of its local management team jailed. And there are other places in the world where this sort of thing might result in outraged subjects boycotting the company, marching in protest, setting fire to their in-country locations, or burning local managers in effigy (or possibly in person)…

What isn’t clear to me is why any company would take such an approach in the first place. In any nation where their actual king is a beloved figure this will be taken as a cultural insult, and in any place where there is a totalitarian government this would be considered an actual incitement to insurrection in the streets (which it actually might be). But regardless of the population’s actual relationship with their monarchy, it’s hard for me to imagine any circumstances under which this type of advertising would be considered a sly in-joke as opposed to yet another tone-deaf attempt by a particularly ugly American company to appropriate some part of the local culture in order to sell food products that are potential health risks…

I’ve read the same things you have about there being no such thing as bad publicity, and to some degree that might be true, but given the worsening relations between the US and Europe during the past few months, and the past week in particular, it just doesn’t seem like the best time to be going around calling attention to American arrogance and tone-deafness. Not that there is ever a really good time to do that, of course…