Burger King’s moldy burger, success or failure?
In early 2020, Burger King released an advertisement that shows one of their iconic burgers, however it is displayed in a rather displeasing form. The “moldy Whooper “is there to prove that Burger King does not use any artificial preservatives, in order to attract more customers to their chain. However, their campaign can be considered as both failed and successful.
The mixed emotions
The food chain clearly tries to reach out to their customer’s feelings by being honest, and unfiltered when they show how their burger looks after 28 days. However, this might not have caught the desired attention as some might even think the advertisement is controversial. Despite stating “the beauty of no artificial preservatives” some customers might have been selective and solely noticed and remembered the image of the unpleasantly looking moldy burger.
Therefore, this campaign as a whole might turn out with an opposite effect, and those who have seen it might connote Burger King with their Moldy Burger, rather than a place who cares about a healthy life style – And just like an article from Spiked-online states “But a far more revealing question would be this one: just who is this campaign aimed at? [… ]promote it to who? The aim is not to entice ‘socially aware’ eaters into BK. If people are so health-conscious that they worry about preservatives in a burger, then they’re very unlikely to enter a cheap burger joint in the first place.” (Cameron, Why Burger King’s ‘Mouldy Whopper’ ad is so annoying 2020)
This advertisements effect can also be explained by CAB. Burger King tried to create certain thoughts about their product and create an opinion that says their whooper is rather considered as healthy, because of the removal of artificial preservatives, and their advertisement clearly creates strong feelings and opinions about it, whether they are good or bad.
Next, we see the behavior of the customer, and as mentioned regarding this advertisement it can either make more people choose Burger King because of their “healthier” meals or make them stop going to burger king because they misunderstood the ad and only remember the picture of a moldy Whooper.
How honest should a company be?
It is good to stay true to your customers, but how true and raw should an advertisement be? In this case Burger Kings whooper definitely created a lot of attention, however how good is it for the food chain to be known as the food chain with the “moldy burger” advertisement? This also shows how challenging it is to create an ad that will both create attention to it, and also speak out to the consumers at the same time. Additionally, as a consumer you can also ask yourself, if you really would want to go to Burger King after watching this advertisement.
References:
Cameron, A. (2020, March 04). Why Burger King’s ‘Mouldy Whopper’ ad is so annoying. Retrieved September 20, 2020, from https://www.spiked-online.com/2020/03/05/why-burger-kings-mouldy-whopper-ad-is-so-annoying/
Griner, D. (2020, February 19). Why Burger King Is Proudly Advertising a Moldy Whopper. Retrieved September 20, 2020, from https://www.adweek.com/creativity/why-burger-king-is-proudly-advertising-a-moldy-disgusting-whopper/
9월 21, 2020, Consumer Psychology에 게시되었습니다. 퍼머링크를 북마크하세요. 댓글 3개.
Ewha [Brand Communication] 
Consumers are a very important part of advertising. Consumers’ ideas should be fully considered when advertising is made, and the issue should be viewed from the perspective of consumption.
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I think this advertisement was too much of an intention to show the truth, which resulted in negative response. As the subject of the ad was food, it is good to emphasize its freshness, but the first impression, the shape of the food, must have been important as well.
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Burger King shows its “shortcomings” to consumers by “self exposure”. Consumers often see delicious hamburger advertisements, but moldy hamburger advertisements can attract consumers’ attention.
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