Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Where's the Beef?

OK, if I'm going to be doing more frequent blog posts, the level of discourse may have to be lowered at times. This... is one of those times.

I'm not sure if you've been watching much television since the writer's strike has dragged into it's sixth fortnight, but Burger King, the always a bridesmaid, never a bride of national burger chains, has introduced a new ad campaign. If you're too lazy or lack the bandwidth to take a look, I'll summarize: the premise of these commercials is that Burger King has stopped serving their signature burger, the Whopper, and they film real reactions on hidden camera.

Needless to say, despite the general lack of quality or originality in their food products, there are serious Burger King customers out there who will freak out if they can't get a Whopper. I might be able to put a whole post together about the suspicious nature of these so-called "real" reactions, but let's take a step back and analyze what these commercials are really saying.

Suspend your disbelief and imagine that you love Whoppers, just absolutely cherish every moment of flame-broiled scrumtrilescence. You walk into the local BK and order the number one special with Mr. Pibb (or whatever quenches your imaginary thirst), only to find out that the Whopper no longer exists! It would be a funny joke and a great prank. I am all for hilarious and time-consuming pranks, but is it really wise to publicize this as a means of increasing business?

You know what these commercials say to me?

Welcome to Burger King: where you may or may not get what you ordered!

And we wonder why they consistently fail to compete on a national level?

1 comment:

Scott said...

I also think it's funny because it doesn't really prove anything outside of the fact that people who go to Burger King like Burger King.

The people obviously had a choice between Burger King and the McDonald's across the street and the Wendy's down the road, so somehow the believe it is good advertising to remind us that the people who already choose Burger King do so because they like it. Brilliant!

I agree with the slogan you draw from the commercial. A similar and also appropriate option would be: Burger King: People Get Mad When We Won't Give Them What They Ordered.

As awkwardly worded as the commercials were conceived.