Whopper Freakout: Brilliant?!
January 7th, 2008I can’t take it. I hate the new Burger King commercial as much (maybe more) than any of their others. Well… “hate” may be too strong, but I really don’t get it, and I certainly don’t think it’s going to change my mind about their product.
People… people that are supposed to know better… have been calling it Brilliant, Genius, and otherwise heaping on the praise. I call it a waste of time.
Here’s the disclaimer: I’m not a Burger King customer. I don’t like the Whopper. I’ve tried it a few times, and its always been bad. I also don’t like Burger King ads. I have to assume that they aren’t marketing to me, but I can’t figure out why not.
Anyway… what’s up with the “Freakout” spot? People seem to be hyped on the viral video aspect of it (which is, strangely, something a lot of people haven’t figured out yet… and god help us when they do). And then they go on to talk about how great it is that they managed to get the customers to say such nice things about the Whopper.
Except they don’t say anything except “its my favorite” and “I’ve been eating Whoppers for years” and “this is nuts!” Yea, its nuts. The guy behind the counter goes out of his way to mention that the Whopper is flame-broiled, but that’s as close as it comes to giving anyone a reason to go there. I’m certainly not going to go there just because they play games with their customers, or because they have a video on the internet. They had two days of footage to get people to talk nice about their product, and there’s not one thing said that will get anyone to walk across the street to try their product vs. their competitors. That’s the ball-game, and they lose.
To me the whole thing is insulting. What did they think would happen? What do they think would happen at McDonalds or Wendy’s if they tried the same thing? Yea… the same thing would happen. The only thing the commercial really says is that people who go to a place and order something want to get what they asked for, and that if you make a scene you might get on TV.
January 7th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
I agree that if McDonald’s or Wendy’s had done the same thing, it would have provoked a similar reaction from their customers. But the point is that they DIDN’T do it, Burger King did it first and deserves credit for thinking up the idea.
Think how many ads there are on TV that you either dislike or could care less about. 5? 10? Dozens? Do you write blog posts about the boring Toyota ad you saw yesterday? You probably care enough to comment on only about 1% of the ads you don’t like. The unique premise behind this campaign means that even people who hate the ads are talking about them, which just means more attention for Burger King.
January 7th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
@Eick: You make two good points: They did it first, and people are talking.
However… I’m not sure being the first one with a dumb idea is something to brag about. So why do I think its a bad idea?
Getting people to talk is only a means to an end. Selling burgers is the end. This campaign doesn’t sell burgers.*
It’s called preaching to the choir. The message is “Our Loyal Customers Like Our Product.” To which I respond: “duh.” If customers of the competition are as devoted to their favorites as BK customers (and they are), then you have to do something exceptional to pry them away and get their business. There’s nothing in the ad that does this.
Most of the television-watching, Youtube-viewing, and blog-reading public knows who-and-what Burger King is and they already have an opinion. Burger King should be trying to change some of those opinions.
For example, here’s the hypothetical conversation this video/ad starts:
BK: These people want a Whopper and we refused to serve it to them.
me: So?
BK: So… they really like the Whopper, see? You should like it, too.
me: I don’t like the Whopper… I like Wendy’s.
BK: This guy hates Wendy’s. He like the Whopper so much we were able to make steam come out his ears!
me: That guy is an idiot. Why would I care what he likes?
BK: But he REALLY likes the Whopper.
me: You’re an idiot too.
See there, how they totally failed to change my mind? Or anyone’s?
Now, there is a share of the market that really doesn’t care what burger they eat, as long as they get it. This ad fails to send the right message to them (”our product is better in some way”) and in fact sends the wrong one: “we reserve the right to refuse service to anyone, just for the hell of it. Good luck!”
Furthermore there is a real possibility that they permanently lost customers who either a) don’t get that it was a hoax or 2) are still pissed-off that they couldn’t get lunch that day.
Finally: for the record I only commented about this ad because I could not believe that people actually thought it was a good idea. It’s not funny, it doesn’t make me want a whopper…. It doesn’t even leave me with a good feeling about Burger King or their customers. More than anything it makes me want to change the channel to find a better commercial.
* this is my opinion as a non-professional member of the burger-eating community.
January 8th, 2008 at 5:20 am
I think the idea is funny.
And I’m not a commercial expert, but I don’t think their intention was to get a Wendy Fan to go to them instead.
It’s for those who are undecided, who like Burger King as much as Wendy’s or McD. Sort of as a reminder “hello, we’re still here, come and eat a Whopper”.
January 11th, 2008 at 10:30 am
[…] Of course I’m not the only blogger who commented on this video when it first came out. You can read the reactions of other bloggers HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE. […]