17407: Burger King Not Flame-Broiled—Just Fired.

MediaPost reported Burger King launched a new campaign, firing its iconic King mascot.

 

No word yet if the unceremonious ouster inspires public backlash like the Cracker Barrel ‘Old Timer’ debacle, or if it’s just a promotional stunt like the Mr. Clean unretirement.

 

Will cries of ageism erupt?

 

Did BK concede to anti-DEIBA+ right-wing pressure that might be delayed outrage from the 2020 Finland Pride advertisement depicted below?

 

Scenes of the King’s dismissal seem insensitive in today’s job market, where even BK crew members face sudden termination.

 

The commercial admits the fast-food chain dropped the ball, especially in recent years; however, BK corporate executives don’t appear to be adversely affected by their self-acknowledged failures.

 

Regardless, the new campaign is hardly breakthrough and smells of appeasing desperation.

 

Dumping the responsible White advertising agency and BK CMO would represent the ultimate irony and/or king-sized karma.

 

Burger King Mascot Gets Pink Slip

 

By Tanya Gazdik

 

After several decades of dedicated service, Burger King’s mascot — yes, the King — has been shown the door. 

 

“Over the last several years, the brand has been updating its restaurant operations, technology, and appearances, as well as adjusting menu items and changing its packaging, Joel Yashinsky, CMO of Burger King US and Canada, told Marketing Brew. “Many people found the king to be creepy,” Yashinsky said. “So we’re firing the king.”

 

The brand debuted the 90-second “There’s a New King, and It’s You” spot on Sunday evening during the Oscars.

 

“What happened?” begins the ad. “There was a time when Burger King used to be king.”

 

The question has been the center of a $700 million effort to revamp Burger King’s image after the brand lost its spot as the No. 2 US burger chain in 2020.

 

“The ad traces the history of Burger King through the years and admits that ‘fast food just fell off, us included,’ noting guest complaints about ‘old restaurants, slow service [and] simple mistakes,’” according to Marketing Dive. 

 

The campaign builds on recent efforts that put the brand in consumers’ hands, including Burger King President Tom Curtis giving out his phone number to solicit feedback.

 

“Burger King took the crown for Oscars 2026 ad domination,” notes Business Insider. “It ran several spots and got host-read callouts throughout the ceremony. Its main ad saw the fast-food chain fess up to missteps and promise changes.”

 

On Tuesday, Burger King’s Instagram included a re-post from The King’s LinkedIn account where his profile photo now includes the #OpenToWork hashtag. 

 

The QSR’s financial problems run much deeper.

 

"Burger King has heavily invested in the Whopper, offering new limited-time-offer variations and basing much of its marketing around the signature sandwich,” according to The Street. 

 

But a new study from Datassential shows that beef prices have climbed much faster than burger prices.

 

Perhaps the fast-food chain hopes having one less salary (the King’s) on its payroll will offset those expenses. 

17182: Gordon Ramsay Will Work For Food…?

 

BBH London is responsible for this Burger King UK campaign starring Gordon Ramsay.

 

No, the new Wagyu burger was not made by Gordon—because he’s probably busy cooking up menu items for his own burger chain.

16725: Blitzing Bombs & Burgers.

 

While the US launched a defensive airstrike in Iraq, Burger King countered by launching The Royale Collection. Not sure which launch will have a greater impact in the region.

 

16666: Truck You, Burger King.

 

Garabato MullenLowe in Paraguay is responsible for this Burger King campaign depicting food truck owners enjoying late-night BK meals after closing shop. In contrast to patrons flocking food trucks—and avoiding Burger King—during the day…?

 

15811: FYI BK WTF SMH.

 

Reel Chicago reported Burger King named White advertising agency OKRP as its creative shop—as well as PHD as media agency—inspiring lots of acronym wordplay. Not so OK, the ECD hired by David in March to run the BK account. GL + G2G TTYL…

 

OKRP Becomes BKRP

 

By Colin Costello

 

Chicago is not a McDonald’s town anymore. It hasn’t been for a while since the golden arches moved their main account to Wieden + Kennedy, New York. But all of that has changed as there is a new King in town. Today, Restaurant Brands International named our friends at OKRP as its creative AOR for Burger King.

 

Omnicom Group’s PHD was named media agency for the fast-food giant and its RBI portfolio brands including Popeyes U.S. & Canada and Tim Hortons U.S.

 

Both strategic business partners will help in the next stage of growth to achieve world-class relevance with today’s guests and to serve as true extensions of the internal marketing teams.

 

OKRP joins Burger King U.S. with intentions to help reintroduce the iconic brand — through campaigns and messaging that uniquely reflect its modern and relevant identity.

 

According to a statement from RBI OKRP was chosen because, “the agency brings an incredible depth of restaurant experience, through proven leadership in creating best-in-class category and advertising strategy, food differentiation, and creative excellence that increases brand love. Their leadership strength and culture align with the path Burger King is focused on in becoming guest-obsessed, driving relevancy and authenticity in culture, achieving business objectives and reclaiming Burger King’s status as an iconic brand.“

 

“The team is working to evolve and build on the iconic Burger King brand by optimizing media firepower and modernizing the ‘Home of the Whopper’,” said Tom Curtis, President of Burger King North America. “To further our effective messaging strategy, we are locking arms with veterans of this industry who heard us loud and clear when we asked for strategic business partners equipped with the speed, data, insights, creativity and innovation to help us drive growth.”

 

RBI partnered with growth consultancy ID Comms through the agency RFP process. For Burger King U.S., the review came after eight years with DAVID and Horizon, who served as incredible partners on the business during their time.

 

Horizon will continue to serve as the partner for Burger King Canada. PHD replaces Horizon on the PLK side, following a five-year relationship. Popeyes will retain GUT as its creative agency of record.

 

For Tim Hortons U.S., PHD will also take over duties from Horizon, who had been working with the brand in the U.S. since 2016. Tim Hortons Canada retains some of the strongest agency partners in Canada — with GUT serving as the brand’s creative agency of record, Horizon for traditional media and Media Monks for digital media — all driving strong in-market exposure and presence for Tims in the country.

 

According to AdAge, who broke the story, finalists for the creative account included 360i, Fig, and incumbent David, who did award-winning work for the brand. Some of the work included the Cannes-winning Moldy Whopper.

 

Ad Age also says BK lost its number two status to Wendy’s in 2020.

 

Congrats to the OKRP team. Sorry, BKRP.

15776: David Miami Playing With Fire…?

 

AgencySpy posted on new hires at David Miami, including a fresh ECD to run the Burger King account. Whoa—hold the pickle, hold the lettuce. That appointment is either a whopper exhibition of extreme bravado or extreme buffoonery. The new executive could eventually work on Burger King or at Burger King—as a grill chief. At least there’s no criticism yet from Cindy Gallop.

 

David Miami Strengthens Creative Leadership With 3 New Hires

 

By Kyle O’Brien

 

David Miami has expanded its Miami creative roster with hiring of Jason Wolske as executive creative director and Caro Rebello and Artur Lipori as a group creative director duo. The three hires will report to CCO Rafa Donato, who joined the Miami office eight months ago after over five years at the agency’s São Paulo office.

 

Wolske returns to David Miami after a two-year stint as svp, ecd at Republica Havas and will work on the Burger King account. He previously spent five years at David Miami as group creative director and associate creative director. He has worked on national and global brands including Volkswagen, Coca-Cola and Google, and his work has been recognized by the Addys, Andys, Cannes Lions, Clios, D&AD, Effies, LIAs, One Show and others.

 

“We are elated to have Jason returning as ecd for Burger King. He’s a natural problem solver who understands there are infinite ways to connect with consumers and teammates. He is passionate about finding the most effective and creative solutions possible for clients and teams alike,” said Donato.

 

“My role is to inspire my teams, keep them motivated and help them bring their ideas to life in the most effective and exceptionally creative ways possible by ensuring we have a comprehensive understanding of our clients’ needs,” added Wolske in a statement.

 

Rebello and Lipori most recently served as creative directors at McCann NY, having previously worked together at JWT Brazil, TBWA Chiat NY and Ogilvy NY. The duo’s work has won awards at Cannes, D&AD, One Show, New York Festivals, 4A’s and Caples International Awards. They have worked with brands including Mastercard, Amnesty International, Jameson Whiskey, Motorola, Ikea, Philips, Diet Coke and HSBC.

 

Rebello and Lipori created and led “The Refugee Nation” project for Amnesty International, a highly awarded campaigns at Cannes Lions, winning the Grand Prix for Good, Titanium prize. It also won Best of Show at the One Show. The refugee flag created for the campaign is part of the permanent collection of MoMA and Victoria & Albert Museum.

 

“David is the industry’s role model for bold creativity. It’s exciting to have the chance to join this talented team and create great ideas,” Lipori said in a statement. Rebello added that “David is one of the most respected agencies worldwide for its creativity, inventiveness, and boldness.”

 

The new hires come after a year when the agency achieved 40% growth in revenue, thanks to new clients including Actimel Global, Activia U.S. and global, Bud Zero, Cutwater and TD Bank U.S.

15145: Mickey D’s Is Probably Not Lovin’ It…

Business Insider published a supersized report on Denise Paleothodoros, the ex-girlfriend of ex-Mickey D’s CEO Steve Easterbrook. The two met while Paleothodoros worked on the fast food account at PR firm Golin and Easterbrook served as McDonald’s chief brand officer—although Paleothodoros was removed from the business after openly acknowledging the relationship to her employer. So, technically, the affair did not violate the Golden Arches’ golden rule forbidding copulation between coworkers. And Paleothodoros doesn’t appear to be involved with the sexually explicit text messages and photos collected on Easterbrook’s mobile phone. All of which makes the 1750-word Business Insider story a lot less interesting than Ronald McDonald’s alleged romance with Burger King’s mascot.

14870: The Worst Ads Of The Decade Expose The Worst Hypocrisy Of The Ad Industry.

Business Insider presented “The worst ads of the decade,” calling out 15 advertisements that broke down as follows: 8 with race- and/or ethnicity-based cluelessness, 4 with sex- and/or gender-based cluelessness and 3 with general cluelessness. The results kinda underscore the outrageousness of White women crying discrimination in the advertising industry, especially considering that White women have been co-conspirators with White men in maintaining the underrepresentation of racial and ethnic minorities in the field—and in the campaigns.

And a special shout-out to Brad Jakeman for making the Business Insider list via the Pepsi-Kendall Jenner video. The “honor” is another example of the outrageous hypocrisy so prevalent in the industry.

14371: Burger King Fanning Flames…?

This Burger King commercial is borrowed interest and patronizing bullshit. But that’s just one blog’s prejudiced opinion.

14312: BK BS.

David in Miami is responsible for this Burger King campaign featuring the “former house” of Mickey D’s executives, where grills are depicted in the environments. Sorry, but this concept is a little too complicated—as well as stalker-like in its invasion of private property. Wonder how many David employees—especially the top honchos at the firm—are exclusively eating at BK.

14294: BBH BK BS.

Campaign reported on a new Burger King campaign from BBH London, who “won” the account sans a pitch. The dreadful work stars BK UK CEO Alasdair Murdoch promoting a contest that invites people to post videos of themselves eating and reviewing an imaginary sandwich. Wow, what a breakthrough concept. Is BBH London following the lead of its U.S. sister shops by refusing to hire union talent for advertising? Will BBH even bother showing up to review the entries?

Burger King hands UK creative to BBH without a pitch

Bartle Bogle Hegarty has created a competition-led campaign for Burger King, after the agency was appointed to the fast food brand’s UK creative account earlier this year without a pitch.

By Simon Gwynn

The win sees the Publicis Groupe agency once again involved in the fast food sector, after KFC moved its creative account from BBH to Mother last year.

BBH was approached after a change of management at Burger King UK by private equity group Bridgepoint Capital, which acquired the franchise late last year.

Burger King’s UK chief executive, Alasdair Murdoch, who features in its campaign, and marketing director Katie Evans joined the business in February. Evans took over from Renato Rossi, who moved to Miami to lead marketing for the brand in North America.

Evans was previously marketing director at upmarket rival Gourmet Burger Kitchen.

The brand is today launching “The opportunity you haven’t been waiting for”, a nationwide search for the first person to try the new Crispy Chicken Burger. Playing with the apparently poor perception of the chicken options in Burger King, the contest will pay the (un)lucky winner £20,000 for trying the product.

Murdoch himself announces the search in a video and post on LinkedIn.

The campaign was created by Fred Rodwell and Andy Parsons at BBH, and runs across online display, social, press and out of home. To enter, consumers have to post a video of themselves eating, and giving a review of, an imaginary Crispy Chicken burger, with the hashtag #20Kfirstbite.

On top of the cash prize, the winner will also appear in the first TV ad from BBH, which will launch on 3 October.

Evans said: “We are delighted to have BBH on board. Their inspiring portfolio of work and experience in our sector gives us real confidence that they understand our brand challenge and how we need to engage and resonate to build brand growth in the UK.”

Ian Heartfield, chief creative officer at BBH added: “The chance to rebuild an iconic brand, one that’s famous for ground-breaking, disruptive work, is every agency’s dream brief. We’re pumped that Burger King have chosen us to help reinvent their entire customer journey, and bring the fight to the McOpposition.”

13959: Hot Dogs, Hot Damn.

This probable scampaign from Brazil seems to emulate the over-consumption tactics of U.S. fast feeders, contributing to the obesity epidemic in the South American country. But to position hot dogs as snack options to inhale between fast food meals is as obscene as any marketing messages hawked by Big Tobacco, Big Liquor or Big Pharma.

13788: Burn, BK, Burn.

The creative geniuses who believe this Burger King campaign is a good idea should be, well, fired.

12865: Burger King’s Blackface.

Advertising Age reported Burger King is bringing Black buns—a menu item first popularized in Japan—to the U.S. for a Halloween promotion. Actually, it seems perfect for celebrating Black History Month. And it’s a safe bet the Halloween promotional campaign will be handled by a White advertising agency.

Burger King Brings Black Buns to the U.S. for Halloween

By Nat Ives

Burger King is bringing black buns, a staple of its Kuro burgers in Japan, to the U.S. for a Halloween promotion. Its A.1. Halloween Whopper, which it says has A.1. flavor baked into the bun as well as on the burger, goes on sale Monday, according to the chain.

The arguably unappetizing looking sandwich goes a little way toward addressing the imbalance between burger chains and other restaurants when it comes to weird menu items. We’re looking at you, fried-chicken-shell taco, fried-chicken-crust pizza, waffle breakfast taco and, of course, KFC’s classic Double Down no-bread chicken sandwich.

12447: Burger King Is A Twit.

Adweek reported Burger King tweeted a snarky remark in reference to outgoing Mickey D’s CEO Don Thompson. Um, Burger King is hardly a stranger to playing CEO musical chairs. Plus, the fast feeder’s recent sales bump—fueled by the reintroduction of Chicken Fries—doesn’t exactly indicate a turnaround warranting such flame-broiled bravado. Although at least they didn’t recruit Mary J. Blige to hawk the Chicken Fries.

12059: Overreaction Of The Week.

The Wall Street Journal reported Burger King in Japan is selling black burgers. Somebody please make sure they don’t use Mary J. Blige to hype the special menu items.

Popular Burger King Japan Offering Back, Black

By Jun Hongo

In the roulette wheel that is fast food, Burger King Japan has a strategy when it comes to its new hamburger menu: always bet on black.

The company, whose previous offerings include the “Windows 7 Whopper,” said on Wednesday it will start selling the Kuro Pearl burger and Kuro Diamond burger beginning on Sept. 19. The burgers will feature black buns, black sauce and black cheese in addition to black-pepper heavy beef patties. Kuro means black in Japanese.

The black burgers were first introduced for a limited time by the chain in 2012 and became a hit, outselling all other new products that Burger King offered during the year, according to the company. They were also available for a limited time in 2013.

“The black burgers sold extremely well because of their visual impact, but people continued to come back for them because of their taste,” a spokeswoman for the company told Japan Real Time.

The Kuro Pearl and Kuro Diamond, which will be made available until early November, will take things up a notch from the previous versions. According to the company, bamboo charcoal was added to the cheese to give it its color, while squid ink was added to the sauce to make it darker.

“The bamboo charcoal adds a nice aroma to the bun as well,” the spokeswoman said.

The simple Kuro Pearl burger, which has a bun, cheese, patty and sauce, will be available for ¥480 ($4.50). The deluxe Kuro Diamond burger, which will also have tomato, lettuce, and onions, will cost ¥690.

11685: Burger King Bulletin.

Hold the pickle—and the presses. Adweek updated its story on Burger King, announcing the fast feeder is indeed conducting a search for a new global advertising agency to replace Mother. Given the quality of work that Burger King has approved in recent years, no self-respecting agency would want to partner with the restaurant chain. Fortunately, there are no self-respecting agencies. So expect lots of interested parties.

11683: Burger King Bolts…Again.

Adweek reported that Burger King and Mother have split, making it the third agency shift in three years for the fast feeder. Then again, given that Mother’s efforts included the infamous Mary J. Blige commercial and ultra-lame breakfast sandwiches and coffee launches, it’s a wonder the shop lasted three weeks. The Adweek story stated, “Still not clear is whether the chain is launching an agency review…” Considering the excrement that Mother and predecessor mcgarrybowen shat out in recent years, BK officials might as well handle the ad chores in-house—with grill workers.

Burger King and Mother Split

Third agency shift in 3 years

By Noreen O’Leary

There goes Burger King again. Just 11 months after the fast-food marketer named independent Mother New York creative lead on its business, the two have parted ways. It’s the company’s third change in creative and media partners since mid-2011.

Still not clear is whether the chain is launching an agency review and reps from Burger King and Mother didn’t respond to inquiries.

Before Mother took over last February, mcgarrybowen was the company’s last creative lead, picking up the business in June 2011. (After a high-profile review, mcgarrybowen prevailed, succeeding Crispin, Porter + Bogusky.) Mcgarrybowen won lead status but the marketer then decided to play the field, with each new assignment becoming a competition among all roster shops.

Mother’s last work for Burger King was September’s launch of satisfries, a new, lower-calorie, lower-fat french fry, with spots like “Satisfry Everybody.”

The Mother split comes after Burger King quietly shifted media agencies at the end of the year, moving its business to Horizon Media after a review. Burger King spends an estimated $250 million a year on measured media. On the media side, since mid-2011 Burger King has worked with Starcom and Mindshare.

11577: BK Worker Flame-Broiled.

From AOL Jobs…

Burger King Worker Fired For Sign Saying, ‘Now Hiring Must Be Mexican’

Burger King says worker acted on his own

By Dan Fastenberg

As countless Americans struggle to find work, many can’t help but wonder—is the search all the more difficult because of competition with immigrants? The conflict may be irrelevant at times, but here appears to be an instance when the role of immigration in the workforce was forced under the spotlight. “Now Hiring Must Be Mexican,” a billboard outside a Burger King in Ephrata, Washington, recently read, as was reported by local radio station KFFM.

There are some questions about the image. Initially, KFFM wrote it wasn’t “exactly sure of the reasoning. Maybe none of the current staff can speak espanol,” the site conjectured, as was reported by the news site, Opposing Views. But an update on KFFM’s website noted a “disgruntled employee” was fired for putting up the sign. The radio station has also questioned whether the image was actually taken at the Ephrata branch, as well.

Burger King has released a statement through its Facebook page in which it made clear the worker, who has not been named, was not acting on behalf of the parent company:

“The sign in question was posted briefly last summer, without approval at a franchise-owned and operated restaurant. Please know the franchisee has informed us that the employee who posted and photographed this sign was immediately terminated as a result. The Burger King team is dedicated to diversity and inclusion.”

KFFM also polled its readers on whether they found the sign offensive. Eighty percent have said yes, as of the latest tally. The incident has also touched a nerve among Burger King fans on Facebook. And even though it appears just one employee was behind the sign, people like Susie Carol Mallard Hortman are calling for a boycott of the company on its Facebook page. “I will not be your customer ever again,” she wrote.

The immigrant card

Either way, as AOL Jobs has reported, the large school of academic research on the subject maintains the effect of immigrants on America’s jobs landscape to be largely negligible. As Pia Orrenius, a senior economist for the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, previously explained to AOL Jobs, every 10 percent increase of foreign-born workers in a region leads to a 1 percent change in the average wages of the legal residents. And the statistic holds true for skilled workers as well, she said.

Why is that? For starters, many immigrants occupy jobs many Americans would simply rather not take. And with new arrivals doing much of the grunt work, other workers are allowed to specialize in a field, allowing them to thrive. Finally, the so-called “immigration surplus” holds that the economy must benefit from the uptick in goods and services used by the new arrivals. And so in the long run the impact on native-born workers’ wages is a “wash,” according to Orrenius.

11530: McD’s Throws Tomatoes At Heinz.

Ronald McDonald is pulling a McMafioso move. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported Mickey D’s is dumping Heinz ketchup from its menu items because former Burger King Worldwide CEO Bernardo Hees was named to run H.J. Heinz Company. While a Heinz spokesperson insisted the fast feeder mostly uses the company’s products in overseas markets versus U.S. markets, it still must be quite a hit for the ketchup maker. Talk about getting screwed in 57 varieties.

McDonald’s squeezing out Heinz ketchup

By Teresa F. Lindeman / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

McDonald’s is moving to clear Heinz ketchup out of its system.

The restaurateur this week confirmed that it has started the process of moving to other vendors, following the appointment of former Burger King Worldwide CEO Bernardo Hees to run Pittsburgh-based H.J. Heinz Co. Mr. Hees also serves as vice chairman of the board of Miami-based Burger King.

“As a result of recent management changes at Heinz, we have decided to transition our business to other suppliers over time,” according to a statement from Oak Brook, Ill.-based McDonald’s.

The decision appears to put an end to a years-long push by Heinz officials to regain ground with the restaurant giant that operates more than 34,000 locations around the globe, although most American customers buying Big Macs aren’t getting Heinz ketchup with their fries anyway.

McDonald’s had soured on Heinz once before, back in the early 1970s. The Pittsburgh company had 90 percent of the business supplying ketchup and pickles to the fast-growing chain, according to author John F. Love’s 1986 book, “McDonald’s: Behind the Arches.”

After Heinz couldn’t meet McDonald’s need for ketchup as a result of a tomato shortage, the restaurant chain took most of its business elsewhere.

This time around, the split is more about the people than the product.

Heinz was acquired this year by a partnership of 3G Capital and Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway. Mr. Hees is a partner in 3G Capital, which acquired Burger King a few years ago.

For Heinz, the impact of McDonald’s decision will likely be seen more in international markets. “It’s a global transition to other suppliers. Heinz was only used in two markets in the U.S.,” said Lisa McComb, director of McDonald’s U.S. media relations.

In this country, Heinz ketchup has been served in McDonald’s restaurants only in the Pittsburgh and Minneapolis markets. But Heinz had been gaining ground in some international markets.

In the U.S., other fast-food operators such as Wendy’s and Chick-fil-A use Heinz’s Dip & Squeeze portion-controlled ketchup servings.

A Heinz spokesman did not respond directly to McDonald’s statements, but reiterated comments made last month on the issue. “As a matter of policy, Heinz does not comment on relationships with customers,” said Michael Mullen, senior vice president of corporate and government affairs.

“All our food-service customers globally remain valuable to the company and are an important part of what has made the H.J. Heinz Co. what it is today. We continue to operate respecting every customer while upholding the high level of confidentiality and business ethics that the H.J. Heinz Co. has built with our business partners over the years.”