William Gallacher

Maintaining current and relevant messages is one way to stay ahead of the competition. Ad campaigns should be memorable and entice the targeted consumers to desire your product not shy away from it. Recently Burger King, the world’s second largest fast food burger joint, removed its big, plastic-headed king as the face of its advertising campaigns.

The axing of the King may have been too long in the making, resulting in a break with long-time ad agency Crispin, Porter and Bogusky. The King broke onto the scene in 2003 with many wild and often odd spots targeting the young male market. The King could be seen in bed with a waking man, looking through the window of a house early in the morning, and working on a high rise construction site, but the final straw was an advertisement with the king running away from a man in a white lab coat saying, “Stop that King, he’s crazy”.

During his reign, the King morphed from edgy to downright creepy. If Burger King was ever going to make a push for the number one spot, it had to shift focus away from the shock and awe advertisements that catch the eyes of teenagers and young adults.

Thankfully we will no longer be subjected to the creepy images of a plastic-faced king sneaking into our beds to wake us with a calorie and fat laden breakfast sandwich. With the firing of the nightmarish royal figurehead, families are free to return and enjoy Burger King’s flame-broiled burgers. The influx of kids and their parents should help this fast food giant to capture more of the market share.

Will you miss the King?

Graphic Credit:
Animationfactory.com