BURGER KING Pulls A Boner With Ad
July 1, 2009 by Sean Kelly
Filed under Business
I think Burger King pulled a real boner with this fellatio-themed ad.
Burger King has recently released an extremely controversial advertisement for their newest sandwich, “The Super Seven Incher.” While the ad was supposedly prepared and only run by a Singapore franchisee, BK appears to be allowing it to circulate on the Internet. Another juvenile attempt at contrived controversy? Share your opinion below..
Not long ago, Quiznos ventured into food porno promo (Will Sex Sell Subs? Quiznos Hopes So.)
Burger King seems to be working even harder than usual to make people sick to their stomachs… this time through inspid copywriting:
IT’LL BLOW YOUR MIND AWAY. Fill your desire for something long, juicy and flame-grilled with the NEW BK SUPER SEVEN INCHER.
Get it? Blow? Jeez… That kind of subtlety doesn’t provoke outrage… it just kind of makes me sad inside. I really kind of feel sorry for a company that would stoop (stupe?) to this.
To make this lamer yet, Burger King is sidestepping responsibility by claiming it’s simply the work of a “Singaporean advertising firm and paid for by a local franchise.” Devon Lantry writes in his post Burger King Oral Sex Ad:
What Burger King Says
Burger King says the ad was printed by a local Singaporean advertising firm and paid for by a local franchisee owner, not by the Burger King Corporation. In response to the ad, a burger King representative told fox news, “Burger King Corp. values and respects all of its guests,” and then stated, “This print ad is running to support a limited time promotion in the Singapore market and is not running in the U.S. or any other markets. The campaign is supported by the franchisee in Singapore and has generated positive consumer sales around this limited time product offer in that market.” .
Are we supposed to believe that Burger King Corporation doesn’t have the authority to keep their franchisees from using their trademark on lewd advertising? Sorry, but that’s a little hard to swallow.
Unfortunately, Oral Sex seems to be a new advertising theme among fast feeders (See Will Sex Sell Subs? Quiznos Hopes So.) Let’s hope it’s a trend that climaxes quickly.
WHAT DO YOU THINK? SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.
Image source: pescatello License: Creative Commons
Where this ad plays is irrelevant. It played and is getting pretty good play here from the media. And with a consistently dwindling market share you’d think somebody would be screaming for some innovation at BK right? For some way to reinsert BK into the social fabric of people lives? Guess again!
Maybe BK & GoDaddy can get together for next year’s Super Bowl?
Yeah, that GoDaddy ad just never gets old, does it? I think they should bring back “Where’s Herb?” for next year’s SuperBowl while they’re at it..