Ass worship, anger, masturbation, fellatio, nudity and virgins are risky ways to promote fast food.

Clearly Burger King understands its primary target (18-34 year old men or superfans as they call them) and they have created a bunch of campaigns which are intended to appeal directly to them. The campaigns are edgy, sexually charged and exhibit a comedy that is surreal, slightly subversive, and self-reflective. I would agree this sounds on brief for the audience but I wonder- is Burger King risking all its other segments to seal the deal with their target audience?

It is a good idea to segment your audience. It is a good idea to understand who your most valuable customers are. It is also a good idea to target that segment with unique, relevant and timely marketing. However segment specific marketing campaigns, while different, need to adhere to the overall brand personality and compliment each other.

According to the NPD Group, between May 2008 and 2009 Burger King experienced:

  • 11% increase in dollar volume
  • 0.5% increase in dollar share (within the QSR burger segment)
  • 6% increase in store traffic

    • I guess BK has the financial model that proves out the profitability of Superfans because if these results are only because of the rising popularity of the Quick Serve segment in general (5% growth overall during the same period), BK will have a difficult time rebuilding the family aspect of their brand.

    Check out some of the more spectacular BK marketing mis-steps below:

    Ass Worship 

    This widely criticized Square Butts campaign makes some sense for superfans but promoting the kids meal?

     

    Anger

    The Angry Whopper campaign (from Toronto agency Taxi 2)  includes radio, TV and online ads that direct to a micro-site that encourages users to shout as loudly as they can into their web cam in the hope of winning a free Whopper.  “Let’s see how full of rage you are,” it says. You can also send an Angry-Gram to let somebody know “they annoy the hell outta you.” Insults include: 

    • You love yourself so much you would reply to your own personal ad.
    • You are bitchier than a school bus of hormonal cheerleaders.
    • Why do you always read my email? It’s like you are working for the FBI.

    Pretty weak stuff but again it proves successful. The last time BK brought out the Angry Whopper in Canada it sold above expectations.

    Masturbation

    In 2007  Bleublancrouge Montreal took the double entendre to an interesting place with the Pleasure Yourself poster in the Metro, creating a mini-scandal for the brand.

    Burger King - pleasure Yourself

    Fellatio 

    Burger King’s representatives in Singapore, Bon Foods, ran this campaign which is getting attention from critics everywhere.

    Burger King - Ssuper-seven-incher

    Between the copy managing to slip the word ’blow’ in twice, the strategic use of mayo and the model’s “omigoodness” look, the Super Seven Incher makes the Angry Burger spots barely capable of causing mild heartburn.  

    Nudity

    In the good old US of A, where family values rule, Burger King has turned to ad agency, Crispin, Porter + Bogusky who are well known for edgy, attention grabbing ads. They worked on the campaign for Flame, a body spray inspired by The King.

     Burger King - Flame spray

     The body spray has it’s own micro-site as well, Fire Meets Desire, where users are given the opportunity to click a virtual bottle of “Flame.”  Each time you do, it sprays and reveals a new romantic image, culminating in this wonderfully erotic picture of The King:

    Burger King - Shirtless King 

    This product is real and you can order it here for about $4.

    Virgins

    Another Crispin Porter & Bogusky campaign, Whopper Virgins had a production crew sent to remote places to conduct “Whopper-vs-Big Mac” taste tests among people who had never heard of a hamburger. The web documentary featured ‘virgins’ trying burgers for the first time and while some preferred Big Macs and one Greenland tester saying he preferred his native seal meat, Whoppers were the big winners.

    Criticism was rampant againg including The Chicago Tribune headlined the campaign as a supersize flop and Adweek columnist Barbara Lippert suggested the ads were “culturally tone-deaf.”

    Too Risky? 

    I would love to hear from people – do you think BK risks it’s entire brand on this kind of marketing or are they brilliantly catering to Superfans?