#whoistheking
Burger King
Issue 39 | June 2016
Agency
Buzzman
Creative Team
President and Executive Creative Director Georges Mohammed-Cherif Vice-President Thomas Granger Associate Director Julien Levilain Art Director Souen Le Van Copywriter Benjamin Dessagne Assistant Art Director Pierre-Olivier Dezeque
Production Team
Head Of TV Production Vanessa Barbel TV Production Margaux Despointes Benoit Crouet
Other Credits
Account Director Pierre Guengant Account Manager Loïc Coehlo Account Executive Clémence Gateau Head Of Social Media Julien Scaglione Social Media Managers Loris Bernardini Marie Le Scao Head Of Communication and PR Amélie Juillet Communication And PR Manager Clara Bascoul-Gauthier Burger King France Marketing Project Manager Bérénice Charles Marketing Project Manager Carole Rousseau
Date
February 2016
Background
In France, McDonald's was the market leader in burger-led fast food. Its 1,300 restaurants gave it almost blanket coverage of the country.
By contrast, Burger King, which had only just returned to France after absenting itself for 15 years, had only 45 restaurants – albeit expanding fast.
McDonald's launched an aggressive video campaign designed to remind consumers that they were never far away from a McDo (as they're known in France) and that the nearest BK was sometimes hundreds of kilometres away.
The video showed huge posters being erected with lengthy, complicated directions to the closest Burger King some 253 kms away. Next to it viewers could see a companion poster: McDo – 5kms away.
Idea
Taking the idea that, in the case of true love, distance is irrelevant, Burger King responded within three days.
Buzzman re-used images from the McDo video and added some of its own to show the lengths Burger King fans would go to for a Whopper rather than a Big Mac.
The video showed two consumers popping into a McDo and ordering take-away coffees to sustain them on their long journey - to the nearest Burger King, 253 kms away.
Results
Buzzman spent €5,000 on the video, achieving some 10m views.
The video also generated some €4m in earned media value, and a reach of 293m. On social media, Burger King out-trended Leonardo diCaprio on Oscar day in France.
The video became a meme, and was hijacked by other brands and YouTubers.
Our Thoughts
It's not easy to think of Burger King and McDo and David and Goliath, but this is a lovely example of challenger thinking. When the big guy attacks the nerd, the nerd has to turn their weakness into a strength.
There's a cheek and irreverence about the way Buzzman went about this, and all credit to Burger King too: first, it allowed Buzzman to highlight a potential weakness; and two, it moved exceptionally fast.