Burger King Ditches Mascot, Gains Flavor

Burger King Corp. recently unveiled a new ad campaign partnered with a fresh marketing approach in order to garner the attention of new customers. While many television advertisements from the fast-food chain were previously geared towards a more comic, child-like group with its over-the-top situations involving a dressed up 'King' mascot, the brand seems to have had a marketing makeover with the help of a new agency. The new campaign is hoping to reach a healthier group of customers in order to gain more credibility of it's ingredients.

The Mcgarrybowen Agency has created a slew of ads recently built upon the corporation's new menu item, the California Whopper. The ads use colorful imagery of "fresh avocados, ripe tomatoes, and cool, crispy lettuce," which first look similar to a Subway commercial. The agency is helping Burger King gain a new crowd of patrons, who may want to give Burger King a chance by hopefully exchanging mayonnaise with fresh guacamole. The new Whopper will only be available for a limited time, which may also represent the duration of the agency's campaign, depending on how well the burger sells.

Personally, I feel that this type of approach is better for Burger King to use in order to gain a broader customer base. I do not go to Burger King simply for the unhealthy appearance of the food. While the advertisements show perfectly put-together cheeseburgers, the actual product is caked in mayonnaise with slopped on browned lettuce and tomatoes. While I realize that the fancy new ads do not help the overall presentation at the thousands of Burger King locations, I also have a hope for Burger King's decision to sell more appetizing food. Perhaps the actual food has changed in the way it is served to consumers...this California Whopper idea has me interested in attempting to give the fast-food chain another chance.

The full article can be found at http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Burger-King-Corp-Refreshes-bw-3669967110.html?x=0&.v=1.

Pugly Humor

Lifebuoy Soap, Scotch Tape, and Bose Noise have taken an effective approach in each of these advertisements: Humor.

With the help of a cute, yet oddly loaf-of-bread-shaped Pug dog, "YOU EAT WHAT YOU TOUCH" allows the audience to realize that remembering to use soap after petting your furry friend, may actually be a clever idea. He's cute and cuddly, but not quite as tasty.

Look out for that...waterfall?

Rather dramatically,

Bose Noise places an innocent man in the path of the Niagra Falls. Would this scenario really happen??? Probably not, but the dark humor used here effectively shows just how strong Bose headphones truly can be. Strong noise pollution calls for a strong set of head

phones. Buy Bose.

A roll of Scotch Tape can do wonders, according to this advertisement. Dramatic humor is used to persuade the audience to buy Scotch Tape. Instead of taking a few small bushels of hay at a time, why not take the whole entire bundle in one fell swoop? The average person should know that Scotch Tape cannot hold this much weight, but it still gets the point across.

One strip of tape just may be all you need.

A "Situation"

Product placement has been a new technique that companies have been using to implement their products in TV shows and movies subtly as a means of advertisement. But in this case, Abercrombie and Fitch wants the opposite- for their products not to be shown. Mike Sorrentino from the MTV show "Jersey Shore" can be seen wearing the Abercrombie clothing brand every episode. The company believes that by him doing so, he is ruining their good, clean image. Abercrombie offered the cast, in particular Mike Sorrentino, money to NOT wear their clothing.

But as quoted by Michael S. Jeffries, Abercrombie's chairman and chief executive, the company was "having a lot of fun" with the proposed payoff. And according to analysts and MTV, it was only a publicity stunt. In the article, Drew Kerr, a public relations consultant from New York, said "It's offering something publicly that you know is never going to happen, but you do it because it's just made for the press"

My opinion? Definitely a publicity stunt- and a good one at that. The company gained press and TV air time without actually paying for any advertisement. Very smart move on Abercrombie and Fitch. And as for the "Jersey Shore" case, if they actually took the offer, they can make some quick and easy money with the deal.

To read the full article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/18/business/abercrombie-offers-jersey-shore-cast-a-paid-non-product-placement.html