By Carlos Winston | March 3, 2020
In case you haven’t seen it, Burger King is taking a vastly different approach to its advertising strategy. They are trying to enhance their brand awareness by showing off an image of a moldy aged burger.
It’s 2020, and so far, the world has seen no shortage of odd ads. You can go on youtube right now and find compilations of ads that were so far in left field that they are now banned from public broadcasting. Although, as a business that sells food to the masses, it’s truly bold to show your food in an unappetizing fashion.
According to Adweek, this ad is actually a part of a campaign formed by a partnership of three different agencies. Burger King is trying to communicate the fact that they are in the process of removing artificial preservatives from their Whopper. Some of you may already know that this is a jab at their competition.
https://youtu.be/oSDC4C3_16Y
If you go on youtube, several videos show the decomposition process of McDonald’s happy meals. In short, there honestly is no molding process. These burgers don’t age a bit, and that’s a big problem considering the fact the all food is supposed to decompose naturally.
“At Burger King, we believe that real food tastes better,” said Fernando Machado, CMO for Burger King parent company Restaurant Brands International. “That’s why we are working hard to remove preservatives, colors, and flavors from artificial sources from the food we serve in all countries around the world.”
The campaign originated in Scandinavia, where the Whopper has already been stripped of such preservatives, which have been linked to a variety of negative effects, especially in children.
Fans of fast food oddities will also recognize the Moldy Whopper as a dig at “the Last McDonald’s Cheeseburger in Iceland,” which has been on display—and conspicuously unaffected by the ravages of decomposition—since the Golden Arches vanished from the island nation in 2009.
“Our iconic Whopper sandwich is free of preservatives, colors, and flavors from artificial sources,” said Iwo Zakowski, Burger King general manager for Sweden and Denmark. “And very soon, our entire food menu will only have real ingredients in Burger King Sweden and Denmark. That’s something we are very proud of.” [Adweek]
I must say that this ad will definitely grab someone’s attention. Who knows if they’ll feel the need to eat something after looking at rotting food, though. It’s easy to imagine somebody taking their usual stroll down to their bus stop and thinking, “What on earth am I looking at” after passing by one of these ads on the way. Honestly, it’s nice to have a positive message in front of a noble agenda. But the more I look at that moldy burger, I begin to lose my appetite. Burger King isn’t new to the world of adverts and has done a good job thus far conducting business. Let’s see how this one plays out.
This piece originally appeared on WayneDupree.com and is used by permission.
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