First, a disclaimer. I love Whoppers. I’d eat a Whopper any day over a Big Mac. Maybe that’s why I’m 205lbs. Anyway…
I’ve stayed away from commenting on Burger King’s new Whopper Virgins TV spots that have fire stormed YouTube of late. I stayed away from commenting because I wanted to measure the perceptions of my peers and ensure I had time to sleep on my thoughts. I view the ads through two different lenses: marketer and consumer.
The jury is in, in my case, and I think Burger King screwed up big time.
The spot shows Burger King travelling into remote Thailand villages and conducting blind taste-tests with villagers who have never eaten a Whopper or Big Mac (McDonalds). The strategy concept behind the ads is that viewers are seeing the results of a true blind taste-test, without bias toward either brand of burger.
If I view the ad as a consumer, and not through marketing/branding lenses, my perceptions of Burger King’s success changes dramatically.
As a consumer, I see a major American company travelling into a remote jungle and making a mockery of a culture and a people that have been largely untouched by American culture.
I felt bad as I watched a villager in the ad grab the top bun to the hamburger, fold it in his hand and eat just the top like a piece of pizza. He had no idea what the burger was. It was like watching an infant examining a newfound toy.
“It took them (the villagers) a while to understand the dynamics of it (the burger),” said one of the producers in the seven and a half minute documentary that was released on Monday.
Great, so give some people who admittedly “don’t have television or restaurants” a hamburger, delivered by helicopter by the way, and see what they say. For God’s sake, half of them don’t even know how to eat the thing and look like test subjects in a weird scientific experiment.
“The King” was bad enough…I’ve never liked the ads and think they’re kind of creepy, plus “The King” ads are getting old at this point. Maybe that’s why Burger King has moved on…to peasants of second and third-world countries.
Seriously, as a consumer, it’s screwed up a bit, as a marketer, I can see the strategy behind it. But, as genius as some in the industry think the ads are, we’re not the target audience. The target audience a middle-income mother stopping by Burger King to grab a quick dinner for her family. What will she think about the ads? Will she care? Will they (the ads) make her want to run to Burger King instead of McDonalds? The answer, in my opinion, is that mother 1. won’t care about the ads, 2. If captivated to watch them on TV for a moment will think they’re tasteless in the end (no pun intended) and 3. won’t be transformed into a Burger King convert for life. She doesn’t care. It’s a hamburger, though in the end, she’ll more than likely feel some sense of exploitation.
Other than getting to see some cool places, I think if I were on this film crew/marketing/ad team, I would have been severely depressed having to work on this piece. Nice try Burger King, but you missed your target.
About the Author
Brooks A. Brown is the founder and principal of Shout Out LLC, a Knoxville, Tennessee-based marketing, public relations, and communications firm serving clients throughout the nation.
