Oh Burger King...

[Nate]

Lately it seems Burger King has the worst advertising department in the business. Between the Hootie commercials with women throwing ranch sauce at each other, the creepy King who molests people in their sleep only to give them a breakfast sandwich when they wake up, and the Texican Whopper commercial (which I never saw but heard about), their ad guys are just abysmal.

And now, we have...well, this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xW4FhovOnHE

There's actually a full two and a half minute version on youtube, but I figure I'd link the TV size one.

I really don't know what to say about it. Who came up with this ad? Seriously. The ad fails on two basic levels.

1. The song "I Like Big Butts" by Sir Mix-A-Lot is a song I hold near and dear to my heart, for reasons I won't get into. At any rate, most people around my age are very familiar with the song, like it or hate it. A parody of that song is great...IF you're marketing to people my age. If Spongebob was a cartoon more like Aqua Teen, and was being marketed, this type of parody song would be perfect. We could go "Oh man, this song, I remember this song. Ha ha, this parody is so stupid and cheesy, that's brilliant."

Unfortunately, the target age of Spongebob's viewers is much lower. They won't know this song. They've probably never heard of it. They don't get it. The song is stupid to them, because they're too young to remember it. It'd be like using They Might Be Giants in a commercial for Medicare or something. Old people wouldn't understand it, because they're not familiar with that band. Same deal here.

2. Aside from the song, what else is there to appeal to kids that are the target audience for this ad? Most kids who watch Spongebob are likely too young to be interested in girls (or are girls). The commercial doesn't grab their attention. Okay, so they're singing about square butts. Anyone who's watched Spongebob knows that butts are par for the course in that show, but that's not enough to grab a kid's attention. Butts aren't by themselves inherently funny, square or not.

Budweiser and Miller wouldn't make a beer commercial with a girl playing with dolls, because the average beer drinker does not identify with this. Likewise, the average Spongebob viewer won't identify with this.

In conclusion, this ad is brilliant...for anything OTHER than Spongebob. Like I said earlier, if this was for something like Venture Bros. or Aqua Teen this would be perfect. But it doesn't grab the target audience's attention, and what's even worse, they open themselves to the ire of parents. I mean seriously, while there's nothing offensive in this commercial, did they really think that no soccer moms were going to be outraged by this? I mean come on.

I think the only solution is to shoot the guy who's in charge of their ad campaign right now, bring in a new guy, shoot him too to be safe, and then bring in a third guy and not shoot him but beat him pretty severely to make sure. THEN maybe BK can get some good PR, because seriously, I like their food, but their ads are a train wreck.

[Jingo Jaden]

Still better than this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oGFogwcx-E

[Evran]

Seriously though, that was a pretty sad attempt at advertising. Left me sitting there going "um... what?" instead of feeling hungry in any capacity.

[LadyRushia]

Anyone who's watched Spongebob knows that butts are par for the course in that show, but that's not enough to grab a kid's attention. Butts aren't by themselves inherently funny, square or not.

A lot of the kids I've met will start cracking up even if they see the word "butt," regardless of whether or not a butt is present or doing anything funny.

Other than that, I think this sums up your feelings on the matter:

[rocklobster]

What do you expect from a company that made stupid X-Box games?

[minakichan]

Actually, I was watching Fox and Friends (NO ACTUALLY I WASN'T JUST SOMEONE IN THE ROOM WAS), and apparently a rep from Burger King stated that this commercial wasn't actually aimed towards kids-- it ran on general networks, aimed for adults who might watch Spongebob with their kids.

Could just be marketing bull, but if it didn't run on kids' cartoon channels... =/

[ShiroiHikari]

The question is, who DOES make a good ad these days?

[KumaruRockz]

Omg the Texican commercial is scary...and I just got the full mp3 of the I Like Square Butts song. Scary. xD

[That Dude]

I do agree about the add guys being shot for the recent BK commercials...

[Nate]

What do you expect from a company that made stupid X-Box games?

Words spoken by a man who clearly has not played Sneak King.

apparently a rep from Burger King stated that this commercial wasn't actually aimed towards kids-- it ran on general networks, aimed for adults who might watch Spongebob with their kids.

I don't remember what channel I saw it on. Still, it's an ad for Kids' Meals. Why would they aim an ad for Kids' Meals at adults? That doesn't make sense.

I just got the full mp3 of the I Like Square Butts song.

Man there's much better mixes out there, such as the Phoenix Wright + Sir Mix-a-Lot, and the infamous BigButtRoll.

[Roy Mustang]

I don't remember what channel I saw it on. Still, it's an ad for Kids' Meals. Why would they aim an ad for Kids' Meals at adults? That doesn't make sense.

Yeah, that is the part that I don't understand. If they are going to say they are aiming the ad at adults, but its still a kids' meals.

I have seen this ad on just about any channel.

I seen it on Adult Swim, when I was watching the GI Joe movie and I have seen it on Nick around 2 to 4 pm.

[font="Book Antiqua"][color="Red"]Col. Roy Mustang[/color][/font]

[Robin Firedrake]

The question is, who DOES make a good ad these days?

Though most of the cash for gold ads are junk, one of them made me snicker. I'm not sure exactly who the people in it were but one of them looked to be a rapper. "I'm gonna send in my gold medallion of me wearing a gold medallion!" And some other guy who looked like he was the owner of a company or something. One of the last things he said was "Goodbye old friend..." with tears in his eyes while looking at a solid gold toilet.

[PrincessZelda]

I don't remember what channel I saw it on. Still, it's an ad for Kids' Meals. Why would they aim an ad for Kids' Meals at adults? That doesn't make sense.

Well, the parents are the ones paying for the kids meal.

I do agree, though, that it's an odd and not entirely appropriate choice of advertisement for kid's product.

[LadyRushia]

The question is, who DOES make a good ad these days?

Liberty Medical makes excellent ads. I wouldn't have known about diabeetus without them.

[Cap'n Nick]

The BK ads are pretty awesome as long as you forget they're supposed to make you want burgers.

[Roy Mustang]

Liberty Medical makes excellent ads. I wouldn't have known about diabeetus without them.

Another good ad is the SAAB JAS-39 Gripen Promotional ad for the EU.

Even we don't have ads for our fighter jets, but the EU does. XD


[font="Book Antiqua"][color="Red"]Col. Roy Mustang[/color][/font]

[ilikegir33]

The question is, who DOES make a good ad these days?

Hyundai, with that Genesis ad that was on during the Super Bowl. It had those Lexus and BMW executives yelling at each other over the Genesis' North American Car of the Year status. LOL-worthy stuff.

In conclusion, this ad is brilliant...for anything OTHER than Spongebob. Like I said earlier, if this was for something like Venture Bros. or Aqua Teen this would be perfect. But it doesn't grab the target audience's attention, and what's even worse, they open themselves to the ire of parents. I mean seriously, while there's nothing offensive in this commercial, did they really think that no soccer moms were going to be outraged by this? I mean come on.

They already have.

If you don't want to click the link, here's some of what those PTC morons have to say about this ad:

One of Burger King’s most recent commercials prominently features Nickelodeon’s beloved children’s cartoon character, SpongeBob SquarePants, in an ad that makes a point of displaying a BK Kids Meal. Unfortunately, the commercial is also loaded with sexual imagery degrading to women.

[quote] So Nickelodeon would have us believe that its famous cartoon is actually targeted towards adults? Nickelodeon considers putting their most popular children’s character in a lewd ad as an appropriate way to celebrate that character’s 10th anniversary?
With this statement, Nick is not only telling a blatant lie – they are also showing that they believe every parent in the country is too stupid to recognize it as a lie...
Burger King – which recently pledged to move away from such “edgyâ€

[Tsukuyomi]

Still better than this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oGFogwcx-E

W-Was that for real o.O? For some resaon, I was intrigued to watch the whole thing.. It was pretty bad XDD

Lol, I remember Kumaru and ADXC mentioning this in the Chat a while back. I then saw it the very next day XD

[Ante Bellum]

Why did that computer the girl sang into look like a Mac?
For some reason it looks like one.

[Dante]

That.... the Burger king one... well, I still think the Burger King King is pretty cool, just because he's so creepy... (Which is better then most Sonic ads which.... yeah... I love their drinks but their TV ads were horrible). Needless to say, that was just a bit weird if you ask me. Not as bad as the Microsoft one though...

[Lady Kenshin]

*Presses Stupid Button*

"That was stupid."

[Mithrandir]

...

I guess this is one way to differentiate yourself from the competition. McDonald's, on the other hand, is trying to promote their food as - are you sitting down? - WHOLESOME.

Which is more evil....?

[Dante]

I beg to differ with you Mithrandir. I believe McDonalds is the most wholesome food in the world! If you're starving to death in some third world country where you lack sufficient calories to live right, a single McDonalds meal can practically give you nuetritional value for a day and the fat content for a whole month! ALL PACKAGED IN ONE DOUBLE QUARTER POUNDER WITH CHEESE WITH A SUPER-SIZED FRY! Now that. Is impressive! Why, I'd say that McDonalds is the most amazing thing in America, it is the primary reason why alot of people want to come here, "I want to go to America, where the rich people are skinny and the poor people are fat."-that is a concept that only an American like us wouldn't realize!

[Ante Bellum]

*claps*
That was made of win. *slaps "Win" sticker on Pascal's forehead*

[ADXC]

Man, I miss the "Wake up with the King" ads. Although these were odd commercials to market their products in weird ways, it still did not really completely embarrass anyone. Now, with regard to the Crispy Southwest Chicken Cheader Ranch(I think that is what it was called.) commercial, I fold(It was, yeah.). But mind you that that one did show up on AS at nighttime.

But this commercial is nowhere it should be. I agree with Nate completely. If they are marketing it as a kid's meal, then how can we assume they are targeting that at us than rather just kids.

One of the keys I have learned from taking Microsoft Office and using Powerpoint is KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE.

@ Tsuki-Alright, you got me. When did I mention this commercial? I know that I did mention the McDonald's Filet O' Fish commercial, but I don't recall this one.

Has anyone seen that other BK commercial with those Burger Shots? That one is a little, I dunno..

[ST. Attidude]

Still better than this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oGFogwcx-E

Ummmmm......wow:eh:

The question is, who DOES make a good ad these days?

So true, Shiroi...even Geico makes no sense...

[Kaligraphic]

I like the Jack in the Box mini sirloin burger commercial.

"herding cows the size of schnauzers but they're cattle"

[GundamFan]

I say this ad on acouple weeks ago struck me as being wierd and inapporiate for a kids meal.
But I have thought for years there adds have been a little off considering how often the King is stalking the person he gives the burger to or appears in there bedroom from out of nowhere. It doesn't make me want to buy a burger it makes want to go buy a 9mm and get concealed carry permit.

[ilikegir33]

I say this ad on acouple weeks ago struck me as being wierd and inapporiate for a kids meal.
But I have thought for years there adds have been a little off considering how often the King is stalking the person he gives the burger to or appears in there bedroom from out of nowhere. It doesn't make me want to buy a burger it makes want to go buy a 9mm and get concealed carry permit.

I agree. Although the PTC overreacted, this was too weird for a kids meal ad. However, Burger King has never done a good ad, and I'm not just talking about the King ads. I'm talking about the Subservient Chicken or the fake metal band with the crude name, not to mention the Atkins parody. And what about those crappy video games? I actually played Sneak King on my cousin's 360. It sucked.

[Nate]

Actually the ad for the Texican Whopper was great, it's just that overly sensitive people got offended. What I want to know is, did these same people protest Mucha Lucha?

The problem is this. Some of BK's ads are brilliant. Some, not all. The only problem is that the ads offend overly sensitive people because it's much easier to whine and complain about a TV ad than it is to actually do something about real problems in society. These people get to give themselves "I'm a good person" points and not really have to do anything. They could be volunteering in soup kitchens, building homes at Habitat for Humanity, but those things are hard and require effort. It's much easier to say "This ad is inappropriate and offensive!" and pat themselves on the back for "doing God's work" than to actually go out and do His work.

BK is still dumb for making these ads, though, don't get me wrong. As I said, some of the ads are great, just they should know better. If we lived in a society where people didn't freak out over every stupid thing, then yeah, these ads would be fine, but unfortunately, "political correctness" rules the day.