Why is the "Whopper Freakout" freaking me out?

OK... So all the usual suspects are putting up the Burger King "Whopper Freakout" video on their site. Which I have to admit is very funny. And yes, it's all over YouTube and getting replays and links on every fucking AdBlog in the universe. Even though it's hosted on Fallon Planning, I have to assume it's from my second favorite agency to kick the shit out of, CP+B. 'Cos it does have the "King" in it... Anyway, It's a neat idea and well executed. Unfortunately, it starts off with the same old, same old testimonial shit BDA's are particularly fond of... However, you know I couldn't refrain myself from throwing in a couple of my usual acidic comments... Why the fuck is everyone describing it as an "Ad Campaign?" This is a video that runs for seven minutes and thirty eight seconds... Which means it's obviously YouTube Viral Shit. But, what I really want to know is... Are these off-the-street people or highly paid fucking actors... C'mon guys, I cannot believe some of these fucking clowns would uber-freak out this much because they couldn't get their Whopper. And the weird mid-twenties guy with the grunge outfit who says he's been eating a Whopper a day since he was ten years old needs to explore the culinary delights of a fucking grocery store before he has that massive fucking heart attack in the next couple of years. Is it just me, am I the only one that harbors doubts anyone could have this much love for a fucking greasy hamburger?

.

Now that's what I call a fucking "Whopper!"

Comments

[Charles Edward Frith]

Its as funny as doing candid camera on people turning up to a gas station and being told they don't sell gas. A one off.

[mikelite]

Typical CPB stunt bullshit. Bring back the days when Ari Merkin was at CPB.

[Robert Rosenthal]

Thanks for pointing this out, George. I guess I'm one of the usual suspects. I did a Freaking Marketing post on this and said it was better than Subservient Chicken.

[the lower depths]

they are not so well paid actors, no one would give a rat's ass in hell about the end of the whopper like that. a whopper a day since you were 10 would make you about, oh, dead!

it's not like there's any real difference between the whopper and whatever else passes for meat there.

show a verité POV camera thing and it's the next grail. "look, new media works!"

i guess it's such a relief from the usual pablum they serve up, it's welcome.

[veedub]

i love the whopper freakout. lots of americans loves them some whopper and this just pointed that fact out in a surprising and undeniably true way.

mr. frith says it's a one off. So what? why is that necessarily a bad thing? and who knows, based on the success of this, maybe there'll be more.

it's an entertaining, fresh ad for fast food. and it's gone viral to some degree. that's pretty much all one can ask.

[Tom Messner]

Seems like a very well produced old idea. Something a 60s-70s packaged goods company would produce poorly: Taking away the product.
But today, people know how to shoot and cast the
ersatz consumers disappointed, if not offended.
The actors are probably not SAG, but are working in a Taft-Hartley state for a non-union employer...paid a buyout + transportation and meals and a copy provided, as Backstage would put it in a casting call.. Oh: the lot of an actor in a consumer society.
I guess "viralness" for a consumer like me is that in pre-viral days, I would see the spot on CBS; today I learn of it from Robert Rosenthal and George Parker...and look at it instead of glancing at the newspaper while the spot ran.
I haven't been to a BK since they introduced those supposedly better French fries back in the 90s and I went to try them. They weren't as good as McDonald's before the health freaks changed the frying fat and I haven't been back, not even for drive-through breakfast.
Burger King has a nice billboard near the Lincoln Tunnel on 10th avenue....if you're in the nabe, look up: you can't miss it.

[theo kie]

Spot-on, Mr. Messner. This is a classic P&G ploy which looks fresher simply because it's done in the fast-food category and with a more over-the-top vibe.

A question: would any of us think this was fantastic if it was 25-40 year-old Moms acting out because their Tide wasn't available?

[veedub]

tom,

they weren't actors. i know that for a fact. it was a prank shot with hidden cameras played on real BK customers.

there's nowt as queer as folk as they say in the UK.

[David Burn]

@ veedub -

ok, but the BK employees HAD TO BE actors. right?

[veedub]

@DB,

the manager guy probably was probably an improv actor. and also whoever had to get reactions out of the whopper-deprived customers.

but someone had to keep the fries coming, so some BK employees had to be there.

@ theo, why don't you shoot Tide-deprived Moms and find out? it's executional. who knows?

[bg]

Usual suspect #56 here. Really though, are there any new ideas? All we have is the spin we put on the tried and true. I liked this when I first saw it.

General comment in general though, Subservient Chicken is recognized as an introduction of 'freak' to the industry at a time when the category was as stale as a McDonald’s 4-hour burger. (Weak metaphor, but it’s Sunday, I‘m allowed.)

They caught the right zeitgeist of what burger lovers needed at the time: a little something to snap them out of the doldrums.

Rewind to: Subservient leads to > The King leads to > Every OTHER fast food chain now doing the me-too thing by personifying their brand’s individual icon with a live character.

McDonald’s tried. Jack in the Box. Wendy’s. (Quaker even got in on the act with ITS creepy statue giving food out to kids. Really, if anyone’s creeped out by the King in bed, at least it was an adult he was next to. That quaker campaign was beyond creepy.) Then you have Applebee's now and–wait for it–a talking apple.

Was it Neil French who said when in doubt, look at your label, sometimes the answer is right there in front of you. Well, that’s the trend right now. I don’t look at Crispin for doing it again with the King, instead, I’m tired of every other brand copying the trend. (Re-trend? Re-imagining?)

As I’m writing this, a spot for Bose comes on. Now, nobody here can argue that Bose is a far superior product than a Whopper. Yeah, burgers and audio are apples and oranges. But Boses’ print and TV are shit. Pure, doctor’s office waiting room Crutchfield DR ad shit. No spark, nothing sexy for a brand that arguably is one of the tops in its category. (By comparison, Panasonic’s screaming mouth/eye B+W work elevates a brand with a mediocre product.)

Point? Boses’ work brings the brand down while BK's relative to the category, gets attention and is more interesting to look at. Create interest to move product.

Least that’s what I though we were trying to do.

;-p

[the lower depths]

so are whoppers flying off the griddles? has the needle moved or are we just hoping the needle moved?

[veedub]

yes, the needle has indeed moved.

just the other day, i enjoyed a whopper (sans pickle) myself based solely on the feelings of whopper-lust induced by this series of promotional films.

[Palisades Park]

It looks like a love mark is about to turn into the clap for Kevin Robert's and Publicis.

Will Rowden's Exit Lead to Exodus of Men in Wigs?

Wendy's Quirky Creative Likely to Stick Despite Franchisee Dissatisfaction

By Emily Bryson York

Published: December 17, 2007

CHICAGO (AdAge.com) -- Now that Wendy's is searching for a new chief marketing officer, will it also be in the market for a new creative strategy?

The fast feeder's campaign showing red-wigged men declaring they "deserve a hot, juicy burger" kicked up dust among some franchisees in September -- including the daughter of founder Dave Thomas, for whom the chain is named. At the time, CMO Ian Rowden, the brain behind that $435 million campaign, gave it a spirited defense. But now that he is leaving Wendy's to return to his native Australia, some franchisees hope the effort will be revamped to put more of a spotlight on the product.

"When you've got the best food, you just need to tell people about it," said one franchisee. "The hero in the [original] ads wasn't Dave Thomas; it was the food. Every ad that drove sales starts with the food and ends with the food."

Young diners
Still, the push, which has lifted sales and the company's profile among the young consumers who frequent fast-food joints, isn't likely to change that much. "We continue to evolve the campaign," said spokesman Bob Bertini. "Food has always been an important part of Wendy's advertising and will continue to be so. We continue to evolve our advertising because our customers continue to change and our approach needs to change as well."

Wendy's has good reason to stick with its strategy. "They'd been wandering around in the wilderness until they started kicking trees," said Darren Tristano, exec VP with restaurant consultant Technomic.

Even so, the fast feeder's path to growth is still a bit rocky. Despite six consecutive quarters of same-store-sales increases, Wendy's hasn't kept up with traffic of rival McDonald's, where November same-store sales increased 4.4% in the U.S. alone. Wendy's third-quarter same-store sales were up only 0.2% compared with a 4.1% increase the year before.

Mr. Rowden wasn't available for comment. In a statement, Wendy's President-CEO Kerrii Anderson said: "Ian was instrumental in reawakening the Wendy's brand and driving innovation." The chain will continue to work with Publicis Groupe's Saatchi & Saatchi and MDC Partners-backed Kirshenbaum Bond & Partners, Mr. Bertini said.

Weathered storm
In the meantime, Spencer Stuart is handling the search for a successor to Mr. Rowden, who was at Wendy's during some turbulent years.

He was named CMO in December 2004, nearly three years after the death of founder Dave Thomas. The company, together with longtime agency Interpublic Group of Cos.' McCann Erickson, had produced the unpopular "Mr. Wendy" campaign. Under Mr. Rowden's leadership, Wendy's rolled out new products, including a test of a breakfast menu, and extended nighttime hours. His first campaign, with McCann, was "Do what tastes right," a nod to the younger audience that had begun to feel alienated by the chain.

It wasn't enough. Some of the fast feeder's famously loyal franchisees organized a revolt in April 2006, demanding new advertising after 15 consecutive months of same-store-sales declines. Wendy's responded by moving its account to Saatchi.

Since then, the company, hammered by activist investor Nelson Peltz, has said it is considering a sale and other strategic options. Franchisee David Karam, along with Mr. Peltz, through his company Triarc, are among the bidders in the mix.

Just in time?
Those close to the company believe that might have been the biggest factor in Mr. Rowden's departure from the company. These days, three years is a relatively long term as CMO of a major advertiser. Leaving now allows Mr. Rowden to avoid getting caught in the crossfire of a board fight over a possible sale of the chain as it struggles to raise sales.

"He was very talented and could have gotten the job done," said a second franchisee. "I'm not sure why he didn't."

~ ~ ~
Contributing: Rupal Parekh

http://adage.com/article?article_id=122665

[Auntie Christ]

After seeing "Supersize Me" I'd say 'It's about fuckin' time.' But then again, you can't expect a Peter Lugers piece of meat for $4.

[Tom Messner]

Re: Bose
They bought the whole subway car I was riding down to the Garden the other night. A "C" train. No big deal there, but it was a surprise that this DR advertiser who usually buys upscale magazine space was getting down to my level.
They had a picture of new smaller headphones. And an 800 number. And a webaddress. Given that half the riders had headphones on, it seemed like a good medium.
They said if I (or you for that matter) didn't like the headphones after ordering them, we could send them back if we did it before 30 days.
I put the 800 number in my cell phone and ordered the headphones the next day.
Proving what?
Proving, I suppose, the product sometimes transcends the message which didn't need further proof. But the medium was an interesting choice. And as nice as that billboard for BK is by the Lincoln Tunnel, a billboard that demonstrates that a whopper is bigger than a Big Mac, it was a case of the ad transcending the product, which is what happens most of the time, it being easier to create a decent ad than it is to make a decent hamburger from frozen meat patties.
Luger's now serves hamburgers at lunch I am told, but they don't have drive through and the waiterts at Luger's are rude and arrogant unlike the polite kids I remember at the Burger King on Pico Boulevard who served me the fries back in 1995 or 1996.

[George Parker]

Guys... Good stuff. I have to agree with Tom about being swayed by an ad in the right environment at the right time. But as I say In my follow up "Miss Teen South Carolina" post... I haven't been persuaded to buy anything from a TV ad in years. A great print ad, well written and art directed can motivate me though. Particularly if it's for something I've always had a subliminal hankering for.
Cheers/George

[bg]

tld - not sure where BK is but from what I read recently, the individual retailers are happy with their overall numbers, as is the home office. Not trying to defend BK or CP+B, just saying. (Watch, after I hit ‘post’ Ad Age will report tomorrow BK is shifting its account. ;-p)

Hard to tell also, maybe they're happy being second to McDonald’s 800 lb. gorilla and their 3:1 store ratio. Sounds like a Hertz-Aviz kind of relationship, who knows.

(I also should have said Pioneer, not Panasonic.)

As for that Bose train thing, I think that sounds cool. They SHOULD do more stuff like that. I just have never seen anything beyond those print ads or Paul “Good DAY!” Harvey news segment live read.

[the lower depths]

so veedub bought a whopper, o.k. cool. chalk one up to new media effectiveness, 45 million to go.

as for the unpaid actors, hidden camera bit ... where did they hide the cameras in the full frontal of the 2 guys that close the spot? or the one where there are multiple angles showing the big scary guy that gets a hug and a whopper from the bobble head king?

hidden cameras are generally low-fi equipment that look fine on you tube because everything looks like crap there. for broadcast TV, you have to use a better rig if you want a better picture.

not doubting your insight, veedub, just asking...

[Studio Maven]

Back in the day when McCann won Burger King (and subsequently lost the account within a month - reminiscent of Walnot err...I mean Draft) they sent out for hundreds of whoppers for the agency that ended up stale and cold in every nook and cranny in the joint. Note to potential clients, be sure the majority of chosen agencies' employees are omnivores.

[veedub]

tld,

at those points the gag was being revealed, the jig was up as it were, so i'm guessing several cameramen came out of hiding from behind the counter with hand-held digital cameras and covered it from different angles.

never said the improv actors were "unpaid" btw. course they were paid.

[bg]

All I know is, after all the burgers I’ve eaten, if cows ever get opposable thumbs and chain saws, we’re in real trouble.

[George Nimeh]

Allow me to speak on behalf of all Americans:

We (and not just the big fat we, mind you) would realllly miss burgers if they were taken away.

Big time.

Add a brand name and a well-known burger (BK Whopper, in this case) and you'll get "shock and awe" on a scale not seen since there were bombs over Baghdad.

If it were a Big Mac, you'd have rioting in the streets. You see, the French don't have a corner on the protest/riot market. Yanks just need a good enough reason ...

And FWIW, this ain't no Subservient Chicken. That let people play with the stupid freggin chicky. This time, all we get to do is lean back and watch an 8-minute made for YouTube BK docudrama.

But that's what good couch potatoes do best, isn't it?

Later,
~G~

[veedub]

yeah G,

but it was good viewin'. because BK is good eatin'. dang!

but your reasoning is like criticizing Sub. Chicken because it was too interactive. everything is hostage to its medium.

you can't prank whopper lovers on the internet. just not possible.

[bg]

But veedub, you could also say if there were no Sub Chic, then they aren’t doing this prank. They went WAY the fuck out there, then pulled it back with the King, and now we’re scaled back even more to Candid Camera.

Man, I do need to go get a burger now though, seriously. Munchies late.

[BurgerDog]

If CP+B REALLY could persuade Burger King to do away with the whopper -- and, in effect, prevent stupid carnivore consumers from hanging themselves with BK food rope -- they might have something to be proud of.

(And, no, I'm not some kind of hardline vegan -- but poison is poison...and Whopper's are the last thing this ignorant, fat-assed nation needs!)

As far as I'm concerned, Whopperfreakout is just another self-indulgent, annoying viral stunt that is nothing more than a long run for a short slide.

Boring.

[veedub]

bg,

not sure what you mean. subservient chicken was a hit. but was it really that "out there"?

in the context of the pulse-less stuff that constitutes most advertising and fast food in particular, whopperfreakout is good viewing.

why focus on what it's not?

[Bob]

Eh, this "campaign" is okay I guess. I don't hate it, although I've seen the same basic concept done many times before. This is executed fairly well at least.

Oh, bg, Jack In The Box ntroduced their freaky character for YEARS before The King came on the scene.

And Mr. Messner, Luger's burgers are quite excellent.

[bg]

@Bob, I stand corrected, but I don’t recall the Jack spots being as freaky as they currently are. I'm referring though to surge of characters who are doing more wild things than just being a Ronald McDonald clown who greets kids.

In general, seems like kids have been eliminated as a viable target in all fast food spots lately. (Not that that’s a bad thing at all, just noticing.)

@veedub. No what I'm saying is I recognize that Subserv. Chick started a trend of really funky inrteractive shit that people could use to engage a brand with.

And I think it’s that which allowed Crispin to do other stuff later on. Arguably, they scaled back the freak factor to where we're at now.

(And if the BK DOM doesn't greenlight that SC, then this is moot.)

[veedub]

i'm sure CPB and BK would love to replicate the success of Sub. chicken too but that's really hard to do.

the cpb strategy seems to be try a bunch of things -- in all media-- and hope something sticks. which makes sense for the way things are today.

[bg]

I think if anyone is doing that, it’s McDonald's and their different voices that seem to be all over the place.

[Bob]

bg, here's the wiki on the "new (1995), modern Jack":

//Originally, Jack was a clown-like character, but he was blown up in a 1980 commercial to give the chain a more mature appeal and look. Then-owner Ralston Purina (1968-1985) tried further to mature the restaurant's image, renaming it "Monterey Jack's" back in 1985, a disastrous move that lasted a short time and the Jack in the Box name was restored in 1986. He returned ("thanks to the miracle of plastic surgery," according to Jack) in his more serious, modern form in 1995. At the end of his first commercial back, he "blew up" the Board of Directors as retribution. Jack in the new ad campaign was created and voiced by Dick Sittig. [2]//

Funny how Jack tried to kill the Board of Directors in 1995, huh?

Remind you of any current commercials?

[bg]

Problem is, growing up on the East, I just don’t remember seeing any JITB spots, not until last year. They probably have a decent ad spend now to work with. That’s also why I'm focused on BK as a national brand that did something beyond the typical jingle. (Plenty of regionals do funky stuff, Taco John’s and the their spider monkey, etc.)