That's when the strategy takes a big left turn. First they were using celebrities: A handsome David Beckham, an ancient looking Steven Tyler, a smoking hot Selma Hayek.
My problem is that the focus on the products is taken away by the stupid crap they have the cast doing in the commercials. Even though they had celebrities, they were all pretty much acting the fool.
On the other hand, if they simply showed this image with the words"Buy a salad" below it, I would happily oblige.
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| Salad sales immediately increased by 300% |
After that, I guess they ran out of ad money on celebrities, because when promoting the cheaper Whopper Jr., they used a puppet instead. And not even a famous puppet like Kermit the Frog or Big Bird!
They've got everything at this Burger King! Selma Hayek's doing costume changes, Steven Tyler's manning the to-go window, and puppets are forcing people to dance. Did someone slip some LSD into the ice machine?
To top it off, they decided to be the only fast food chain to embrace the internet meme by remixing the Whopper Jr commercial with the Harlem Shake:
If this was my neighborhood Burger King, I'd definitely be hitting up the Golden Arches. Or Wendy's. Or Fuddrucker's. Or I'd take the time to cook a damn burger myself.
Besides, I've never seen a Burger King (or for that matter, ANY fast food joint) where the employees are that happy. Really, the only time I've ever even seen customers that happy is when they've been drinking. Heavily.
People don't go to fast food restaurants to have fun. They go there to eat quickly and cheaply. Don't paint it as something it's not.
Hopefully the really exciting thing happening at Burger King is that this commercial concept is like sweet potato fries: For a limited time only.
Rating - 1 TV - The only reason for one TV is Hayek's voluptuous, bouncing....personality. Of course, if that's all it took to sell me a burger, Hardee's/Carl's Junior would have all of my business.
