Boldy Moldy: A Shockvertising Brilliance of the Moldy Whopper
This case study examines Burger King’s controversial Moldy Whopper campaign, which brought attention to the chain’s decision to forgo artificial flavors and preservatives, which have long been blamed for being used by numerous fast-food companies.
Introduction
A strong advertising elicits emotional responses from viewers, whether they are aware of it or not. Few commercials have had as much controversy and lasting impact in the advertising world as Burger King’s “Moldy Whopper” campaign from 2020. The purpose of the 34-second commercial was to emphasize that Whopper was manufactured without artificial preservatives by showing a close-up of a deteriorating and moldy sandwich. Despite being visually striking, the ad generated mixed reviews from industry watchers and was undoubtedly controversial.
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Image credit- Ads of the world
Eww right? But beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, and that was what Burger King aimed for. There was a range of responses to the campaign; some people thought it was disgusting and unsettling, while others praised its authenticity and honesty. Still, there was no doubting its efficacy. It created a great deal of excitement on social media, which increased sales for Burger King.
A sneak peek
Burger King’s Moldy Whopper campaign, which defied the traditional, polished portrayal of burgers, received widespread media coverage and successfully increased sales and customer loyalty. By showcasing a decomposing Whopper over 35 days, Burger King ingeniously promoted the health benefits of its preservative-free burger, outwitting its rivals with a bold and innovative market challenger approach.
Objective
Burger King captivated the marketing community with a fantastic 35-day time-lapse video showing a burger being consumed by molds rather than people. The goal of the campaign was to represent Burger King’s determination to shift away from artificial chemicals and preservatives and toward the actual world of its customers.
Challenge
The advertising firm INGO Stockholm was charged with creating a campaign that would emphasize Burger King’s dedication to using fresh, high-quality ingredients in their Whoppers. INGO employed the concept of Moldy Whopper as a way to demonstrate that the burger is free of artificial preservatives. They thought that this would be an effective approach to spread the word about the fast-food juggernaut and set the burger apart from its rivals.
An Unprecedented Idea
Burger King boasted of using only natural ingredients in the creation of its Whoppers. The ad, which consists of an OOH visual and a film, depicted what happened to a Whopper left out for more than a month: it turned moldy. It goes without saying that once the mold settles, a Whopper cannot be eaten, but that was the core advantage of not using artificial preservatives. The campaign’s imaginative thinking garnered attention globally.
Creative Execution
The Moldy Whopper campaign premiered in February 2020. It featured close-ups of Whoppers in:
- Print.
- TV.
- Digital ads.
- With the tagline “The Real Whopper. No Preservatives. No artificial intelligence. Just real food.”
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Image credit- Brandvertising
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Image credit- D&AD
The central idea was simple yet striking:
- Demonstrate the Whopper’s real, natural deterioration over a month.
- Show that preservatives were not present.
- Raw and uncensored approach for customers looking for brands they can trust to be genuine and transparent.
Some marketers saw this as a daring and unconventional effort to entice people to buy more natural and socially responsible meals. Others, meanwhile, were merely turned off and left perplexed by the concept’s goal.
The Moldy Whopper
The Moldy Whopper campaign showcased a time-lapse video depicting how the Whopper decomposed over 34 days, emphasizing Burger King’s dedication to preservative-free ingredients. Promoted through a social media effort that encouraged comments, the hashtag #MoldyWhopper quickly went viral, sparking widespread discussion. The striking images of the moldy burger made people think about the ingredients in their fast food and the health risks of preservatives. The campaign’s bold visuals effectively communicated Burger King’s dedication to offering real, authentic food.
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Image credit- Contagious
Results
The campaign’s impact was demonstrated by its unusual visual of a burger that molded, which attracted a lot of attention and sparked conversations on multiple media. The campaign generated –
- 8.4 billion organic impressions.
- Estimated $40 million in earned media value.
- Sales increase of +14%.
- Awareness of the removal of artificial preservatives boosted by 400%.
- Positive brand sentiment by 88%.
- Awards won: Cannes Lions Grand Prix, One Show Best of Show.
- Removed 8,500 tonnes of artificial ingredients worldwide.
The ad was a huge success on social media, garnering astounding numbers:
Facebook:
- 1.4 million minutes were spent watching the “Moldy Whopper” video.
- 39% viewers saw the entire 45 seconds.
Instagram:
- The in-feed photo surpassed the benchmark for engagement rate by 27%.
Twitter / X:
- 159% higher engagement rate than the organic benchmark.
- organic benchmark video view count was 187%
YouTube:
- 1.7 million hits.
Love this or hate this new #adcampaign from @BurgerKing? The chain is celebrating its #moldywhopper. I gotta say… its a smart & interesting take. https://t.co/62lmXwQIVn pic.twitter.com/LXVfNGtTw4
— Kirsten Boyd (@Kirsten__Boyd) February 19, 2020
What worked?
The Moldy Whopper campaign was successful due to a number of elements. A few of them are free here:
- Shocking and eye-grabbing images: The image of a moldy Whopper was a bold and hazardous move, but it certainly captured people’s attention and made them stop and think. It was successful in creating awareness and buzz.
- Simple and successful messaging: Burger King Whoppers are no longer made with artificial preservatives. This was the campaign’s clear and succinct message. Customers who were growing more worried about the quality of the food they were eating responded well to the message.
- Sense of humor: The advertisement was somewhat humorous even though it used repulsive imagery, which added to its memorability and likeability.
![Advertising, shockvertising, burger, king ad, no artificial preservatives, mold, social media, food, marketing, hamburger, advertisement, print, commercial, food, newspaper, billboard, strategy, king ad campaign, no preservatives, king whopper, hamburger, ad campaign, mcdonalds, youtube, marketing, fast food, the moldy, case study, moldy whopper, burger king, artificial flavors, commercials, controversial, ad generated, engagement, innovative marketing, marketing community, artificial chemicals, imaginative thinking, innovative thinking, global attention, digital ads, unconventional, time-lapse video, viral, authentic, organic impressions, earned media, brand sentiment, sales, cannes lions, organic benchmark, twitter, awareness, messaging, memorability, campaign](https://adtechtoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/1766212.jpeg)
Image credit- Alina Vlaicu
Burger King’s Moldy Whopper campaign was a daring marketing move that paid off big time. It contradicted the usual ads we see, and showed the importance of taking risks. Viewers remember it well even today, and it has helped improve how customer see Burger King, leading to more sales. Right now, it is seen as a great example of how creative thinking can have a lasting impact in marketing. The campaign received a lot of attention for its message about using no preservatives, which people talked about the most! The tagline, “The beauty of no artificial preservatives” marked a significant pivot from conventional food marketing.
![Advertising, shockvertising, burger, king ad, no artificial preservatives, mold, social media, food, marketing, hamburger, advertisement, print, commercial, food, newspaper, billboard, strategy, king ad campaign, no preservatives, king whopper, hamburger, ad campaign, mcdonalds, youtube, marketing, fast food, the moldy, case study, moldy whopper, burger king, artificial flavors, commercials, controversial, ad generated, engagement, innovative marketing, marketing community, artificial chemicals, imaginative thinking, innovative thinking, global attention, digital ads, unconventional, time-lapse video, viral, authentic, organic impressions, earned media, brand sentiment, sales, cannes lions, organic benchmark, twitter, awareness, messaging, memorability, campaign](https://adtechtoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/BK-case-study.png)
Image credit- Extracted from independents.ai
To Promote Sport Inclusivity, Adidas Unveils World’s First Swimmable Billboard!
Adidas, in a revolutionary move, has launched the world’s first-ever liquid billboard at one of Dubai’s most attractive tourist beaches – the Kite beach.
This move came as a promotion for Adidas’s launch of its new collection of accessible swimwear. This swimmable billboard is also an attempt on part of the company to live up to its oath of breaking sport taboos and creating inclusivity for women.
The liquid billboard was erected on the beach, right in the sand, after which, the company encouraged women to dive in.
‘Watch Us Move,’ a 2021 roadmap launched earlier this year, promises to overcome sport taboos through modernizing Adidas’ product offering and services.
Adidas introduced performance tights as a method to reinvent its product offering and services to better meet the requirements of its varied female community after discovering that adolescent girls were dropping out of sport at an alarming rate, with one of the main reasons being fear of period leaking.
In fact, it is important to take note of the fact that, in UAE, Only 12% of women feel fully at ease wearing a swimsuit at a public beach or pool, with body shame and a lack of privacy being the two most common causes for women’s discomfort in their swimwear.
Also, 59 percent of UAE women aged 18 to 42 feel the media portrays female swimmers in an unachievable body ideal.
It is in wake of such statistics, that Adidas decided to sponsor a survey by YouGov, as part of its wider “Watch Us Move” campaign, to get an even understanding of the physical, emotional, and cultural hurdles to sports participation.
When the study revealed the hurdles that hinder women from participating in swimming, the mega sports company decided to create a line of swimwear based on community involvement.
Joao Medeiros, executive creative director at Havas Middle East, in an interview, said that the concept of a liquid billboard was born to literally give women a spirit of independence and freedom.
Fabio Silviera, general manager at Havas Middle East, said –
“Of the three ideas pitched, the swimming billboard was the one that Adidas immediately bought into. They were fully supportive, which made us believe that OK, we can pull this off. “
The swimming pool billboard is five meters high and three meters deep, and it is made of strengthened transparent acrylic and holds 11,500 gallons of water (the equivalent of 163 bathtubs). The crew put a camera inside the pool to broadcast live footage to the city’s largest digital display, allowing a broader audience to see the action.
Giovanna Altomare, marketing operations manager at Adidas said –
“We loved the creative idea because our whole point was to inspire the women in Dubai (and hopefully all around the world) to take a leap of faith and embrace the water.”
He further commented on the swimmable billboard –
“So the idea of this billboard that has real women swimming inside, showcasing the movement of the water in front of people in a public space, was really driving our objective.”
Women of Dubai were asked to join in a dive “beyond the surface” to reaffirm the brand’s global effort to guarantee that sport is inviting to everyone.
Adidas ambassador and amputee triathlete Dareen Barbar, who is also a Guinness world record holder, and Adidas ambassador Raha Moharrak, the first Saudi Arabian female to climb Mount Everest, were among the inspiring women who made the public plunge into the liquid billboard.
The content from the liquid billboard was shown live on a digital screen above the famed Dubai Mall ice rink, close to the Adidas flagship store, allowing customers and mallgoers to participate in the experience.
In a conservative landscape like the UAE, such a swimmable billboard is more than just an ad – it symbolizes the need for inclusivity in sports and otherwise for women.