Viral Burger King ads inspire parodies again; edgy marketers rejoice
Took me half a minute to realize this wasn't a legit Burger King ad. "Whopper Freakout, Ghetto Version" parodies the chain's "viral" ads, wherein they pulled the Whopper at one location for a day and taped people's reactions. In the version below, one customer says, "I hear you motherfuckers put worms in your burgers; I dunno if that's true but that shit is good." Chances are that's not the message Burger King wants spread, but some smartass in marketing must be high-fiving himself. Burger King has played with ironic advertising (the scary ads with The King, for example, and the classic subservient chicken microsite) enough to expect and appreciate this kind of parody. That sets them apart from General Motors, whose make-your-own-ad program inspired people to mock the gas-guzzling Chevy Tahoe. Amateurish, easily parodied virals are only for brands that can tolerate someone spitting in their burger.