Andrew FrougBurger King has decided that putting a creepy plastic mask on a robe-wearing human body isn't good for business. After declining sales, the world's second largest hamburger chain has decided to end its advertising campaign featuring the King mascot and instead focus its advertising on the food itself, beginning this week with commercials for its newest avocado and cheese-bearing product.
Since advertising firm Crispin Porter + Bogusky began working with Burger King in 2003, the King has been at the forefront of their campaigns. In the “Wake Up With the King” series meant to sell the chain's new breakfast sandwiches, for example, unwitting customers wake up to find the silent mascot lurking outside of their windows or next to them in bed. We're guessing that the narrator's raspy voice also didn't help “appeal to [the] broader audience” Burger King spokesman Miguel Piedra says the brand wants to attract.
Advertising firm McGarryBowen now handles the burger chain's marketing, and their first commercial features the new California Whopper in a slow motion vegetable-slicing, ingredients-flying-through-the-air number that feels more Subway than Burger King. The new burger includes swiss cheese, bacon and guacamole that the commercial would suggest was crushed in a molcajete.
Whether or not Burger King will bridge the gap between itself and McDonald's or Subway — now the world's largest restaurant chain — remains to be seen. But for now, the king mascot, whom we've heard called “John Wayne Gacy in a bad royal outfit,” looks to have died an avocado-and-bacon death. [Ed. note: Won't we all.]
Credit: Flickr / isirya
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