Burger King's Fancy Ads Aren't Actually Selling Burgers

By Kyle Munzenrieder in Media Watch

Mon., Jun. 22 2009 @ 1:48PM

Surprisingly this didn't sell burgers. Maybe it's the fact that if you wanted to look good naked sprawled out by a fire, you wouldn't be eating BK

Edgy ad agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky has brought us The King rapping about butts, Facebook friend sacrifices, stereotypical Mexican wrestlers, and bewildered foreigners all in the name of advertising Burger King's greasy wares. They've garnered a lot of attention, and won lots of awards for their efforts. But apparently the ads aren't quite working in one important measure: selling the product.

Ad Age reports:

Between 2003 -- the year before Burger King hired Crispin as agency of record -- and 2008, Burger King's share of the burger-chain market fell to 14.2% from 15.6%, according to Technomic, while McDonald's share rose to 46.8% from 43.6%. McDonald's has posted average annual sales growth of 6.3% compared with BK's 2.9% gain during that period.

Gawker jumps on this fact to declare CP+B's myriad campaigns for BK a failure. Which maybe it is, though at the end of the day, we also think BK's struggle has something to do with their menu. With entrees like an artery clogging quadruple stacker and the worst fries in fast food, it never seems that appealing.