Burger King fires up OOH and print campaign using failed survey

Burger King has served up a new campaign for its Whopper based on physical surveys done in London, Tokyo, Mexico City, and Stockholm. The study conducted last month found that only 3% of participants are able to name burgers on Burger King's menu. The campaign film also showed Burger King asking consumers to name just three burgers on their menu in exchange for US$10,000. But again, most failed to name any other than the Whopper. 

The QSR brand said that out of more than 1,300 total guesses of Burger King products, 83% were completely wrong, showing that consumers had a limited understanding of other Burger King burgers. The physical study was conducted randomly where the team interviewed 342 consumers on the streets, both close to, inside, and far from Burger King restaurants. None of the participants in Japan and Mexico could name four or more products from the QSR brand. 

Meanwhile, 85% of survey respondents had more luck with the Whopper and in fact, Burger King's survey found that females were generally more aware of the Whopper. Those in the UK were also found to be more aware of the Whopper than those in Japan, for example. The physical survey yielded a slew of creative guesses ranging from "Chicken Finger Burger" to "Fishy Wishy".

Seeing as how no one can name four burgers from Burger King's menu, the QSR brand worked with Swedish ad agency Ingo Stockholm to take advantage of this seemingly dismal situation and turned the study's results into a global print and OOH campaign for the flagship burger.

The campaign launched in Mexico at the end of April and will soon roll out in the UK where it will run for a few weeks. The campaign will soon go live in Brazil, Costa Rica, Ireland, and Nicaragua, with a few other markets in the mix in the following weeks as well.

Burger King is known for its creative campaigns. In 2020, for example, it celebrated Halloween by taking shots at rival fast food restaurants. Done in collaboration with MullenLowe Group Boston, the "Scary Places" experience takes users to abandoned restaurants where burgers have not been flame grilled for years and allows them to redeem a free Whopper coupon at the end of the "visit".

To obtain the coupon, consumers had to get within 300 feet, approximately 90 metres, of one of the abandoned storefronts and use the BK app to confirm that they are indeed within the specified distance. Thereafter, they will receive the coupon which can be redeemed in-stores, online or via the mobile app.

More recently, it created a "glitch" to tease its new Cheesy Macaroni in Malaysia. The campaign was done in collaboration with Alchemy79, a fully-owned creative agency under Invictus Blue Group. Alchemy79's creative group head, Tan Pei Ru, explained to MARKETING-INTERACTIVE previously that with the popularity of #foodhacks on social media and the fact that the new Cheesy Macaroni burger itself was a "hack" of a Whopper/Tendergrill burger, the team was curious to see what else it could "hack" within the user experience.

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