Fast-food chain Burger King is making a 180 degree shift in its marketing, with a decision to drop its “King” mascot and focus on — sit down before you read this! — product.

For years, Burger King had placed its bets on edgy commercials by creative powerhouse Crispin Porter + Bogusky, targeting men in their teens and 20s. Crispin’s campaigns got a lot of attention, and plaudits from the advertising community. Unfortunately, however, advertising awards don’t necessarily translate into sales, and Burger King has been badly lagging main rival McDonald’s. According to consulting firm Technomic, Burger King’s same-store sales declined 6% in the first quarter; compare that to a 3% rise for Mc Donald’s.

This discrepancy in performance is not the result of McDonald’s having more “creative” advertising or a hipper mascot (Ronald Mc Donald is many things — hip he’s not). But while Burger King was trying to sell consumers an edgy brand image, McDonald’s focused on something much more mundane: selling burgers, fries and coffee. The rest is marketing history.

http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/113356/burger-king-drops-king-mascot-forbes

The King is dead, but the burger lives on.

Burger King Corp. on Friday said it is retiring “The King” mascot, a man with an oversized plastic head and creepy smile who in recent years has been shown in ads peeping into people’s windows and popping up next to them in bed.

The move is an effort by the struggling fast food chain to boost slumping sales by focusing its marketing on the freshness of its food rather than the funny-factor of its ads. It’s rolling out a new campaign on Saturday sans The King to tout its fresh ingredients and new products like its California Whopper, which has guacamole.

“We won’t be seeing The King for a while,” Burger King spokesman BJ Monzon said Friday.

http://www.suntimes.com/business/7158876-420/burger-king-to-drop-the-king-get-healthier.html

Watch McGarryBowen’s First TV Spot for Burger King

Burger King’s first TV spot from its new agency McGarryBowen will begin airing Saturday, and the fast-feeder is hailing the ad as the start of a “refreshed marketing image, created to appeal to a broader audience.”

Translation? After seven years of polarizing campaigns from Boulder, Colo.-based CP&B that included “Whopper Freakout,” “Whopper Sacrifice,” products such as Chicken Fries and Flame cologne, and the creepy King mascot (whose demise few are mourning), Burger King thinks it’s time to get back to the food.

And focus on the food the new ad does. The spot is decidedly unfunny, marketing the chain’s new “California Whopper” sandwich with nothing more than a series of close-ups of avocados, lettuce, tomato and onions.

to see the new burger king commercial go to

http://adage.com/article/agency-news/watch-mcgarrybowen-s-tv-spot-burger-king/229383/