The Burger King
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The Burger King is a character created as its advertising mascot for the international fast-food restaurant chain Burger King who became famous in numerous television commercials, including the Burger King Kingdom.
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[edit] History of the King
The first iteration of the King was part of Burger King sign at the first store in Miami, Florida in 1955. Later signs had the King shown sitting on a "burger throne" as well as atop the BK sign while holding a beverage.
In the late 1960s/early 1970s Burger King started using a small, animated version of the King in its children's advertising. The King was featured in a series of advertisements in which he would visit a Burger King outlet for an interview with a television reporter or see a former court wizard who now worked for the chain. In all ads the King would present children with small gifts or buy them some Burger King food.
The original animated King was soon replaced by the "Marvelous Magical Burger King" (sometimes shortened to just the "Magic Burger King"), an actor named Dick Gjonola appearing as a red-bearded king who ruled the Burger King Kingdom and performed magic tricks that were mostly sleight-of-hand, but sometimes relied on camera tricks. This campaign paralleled McDonald's McDonaldland children's commercials, which featured "Ronald McDonald", "The Hamburglar", and "Mayor McCheese", along with other characters and mascots.
The children's ads featuring the King were phased out by the late 1980's in favor of the BK Kids Club Gang ads.
[edit] Return of the King
The Miami based advertising firm of Crispin Porter + Bogusky (CP+B) took over the advertising account of Burger King on January 27, 2003.[1] They began using a caricatured variation of the Burger King character from the Burger King Kingdom advertising campaign, now simply called "the King". An employee at Crispin Porter + Bogusky found a 1970s era, over sized King head for sale on eBay; originally used as an inspiration for brainstorming, it was eventually decided to restore the head and use it in a campaign.[2] Employing the advertising technique called Viral Marketing, CP+B's ads generated significant word of mouth and for its new use of what various trade publications and internet articles labeled "the Creepy King" persona, an appellation that CP+B has begun to use in its ads. In this incarnation, "the King" is an actor who wears an over-sized, grinning mask that is similar to the actor played King. The King has been used mainly in a form similar to a movie monster in recent advertising campaigns. The ads have caught on with the public and The King has become very popular.
The most recent ad campaign for the BK Homestyle Melt sandwiches, have depicted a group of women, presumably mothers, who have attempted to kill the King though various means such as putting a hit on him, or attempting to run over him with a car. It is implied this is done because the new products are moving in on the women's territory, home cooked meals.
On the Internet, The King is something of a fad with jokes about his huge head, and frequently portrayed as a fiend with monstrous intents (and/or accompanied with the catchphrase "Where is your God now?").
[edit] Usage
- In 2005, The King appeared on several spoofs on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
- In October of 2005, Burger King began to sell Halloween masks resembling The King and Burger King's viral marketing character The Subservient Chicken. There was little promotion on these masks, as Burger King's website[3] had no link to bkmasks.com website and no commercials were aired advertising them. Nonetheless, the masks quickly sold out, and some masks were also sold on eBay for hundreds of dollars. Some of the sellers on eBay also included a King robe and medallion, which the original purchase from www.bkmasks.com lacked. In October of 2006, the masks were again sold for the Halloween season. Unavailable for some time, the masks are now available again through Burger Kings online shop[4]. The general merchandise store has replaced the Burger King Masks site, and all old links now point to this page.
- Although the advertisements were mainly shown in North America, advertisements featuring The King surfaced on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom as well as in Germany in early January 2006. The King appeared not to catch on with the UK market and was seemingly retired there after only two brief commercials (featuring him at an ATM and as a pole dancer). However, he returned in summer 2006 as part of Burger King's Superman Returns campaign.
- In September 2006, Burger King began using the original animated King design from the late 1960s and early 1970s commercials on its cups, bags and in non tie-in kids advertising. The second generation King is portrayed as a sarcastic type who sometimes gets in trouble for his mischief making adventures.
- In July 2007, The King appeared in several commercials promoting The Simpsons Movie as a Simpsons' character, complete with four fingers, yellow skin and an overbite.
- The character has appeared in the tie-in promotion of the film Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, commercials for a cross-promotions with the NFL and DirecTV's NFL Sunday Ticket sports subscription package. An animated version was used for a tie-in with The Simpsons Movie.
- A further series of advertisements featuring Brooke Burke, which premiered during Super Bowl XL, featured the King orchestrating an elaborate Broadway-style show called "the Whopperettes" – women dressed as burger condiments and toppings in a Ziegfeld Follies type production. The "Have it your way" slogan and "Creepy King" comment also made its way into the lyrics.
- In a 2007 commercial to promote the restaurant chain's new Western Whopper sandwich, the King is shown in full royal attire against an obviously fake backdrop of a Southwestern desert, doing a jig-like dance to banjo music. His head is slightly modified so that he wears a handlebar mustache in the style of the Old West, and is juxtaposed with shots of Burger King customers who, upon consuming a Western Whopper, acquire similar mustaches regardless of age or gender.
[edit] Burger King Movie
It has now been confirmed that the Burger King will be starring in his own feature-length film, The Burger King, and that the company, Burger King, has lined up a studio and distributor for this film. [5]
[edit] NFL commercials
Beginning in 2005, commercials featuring The King were created by digitally altering classic NFL game footage. The King is superimposed over players, making it appear as though the King was involved in the play. Some of the players the King has been imposed over include Steve Young, Deion Sanders, and Moe Williams (receiving a lateral pass from Randy Moss). He has also been depicted performing the Lambeau Leap and dumping Gatorade on the head of former Miami Dolphins head coach Don Shula. These commercials were referenced on the ESPN program Sportscenter, when The King was facetiously dubbed an NFL Rookie Of The Year candidate (despite, as noted, the fact that he is shown playing for multiple teams).
In August 2006, a commercial debuted showing The King holding a press conference with his "agent", Drew Rosenhaus.
[edit] Advergaming
The first appearance of The King in a video game was in the boxing game Fight Night Round 3 from EA Sports which was released on all-formats, starting with the Xbox 360 release in February 2006. The King was available as the in-ring round guy, and later he was selectable as your boxing manager (his speciality was giving you "Heart"). There were also persistent rumors that he could be played as a boxer using a cheat code. However, some fans of the game regard his cameo as an example of excessive product placement.[6]
In October 2006, Burger King announced that it would be releasing three video games for the Xbox and Xbox 360 consoles, starring The King and other mascots, such as the Subservient Chicken. In Pocketbike Racer, the mascots face off in a minibike race. Big Bumpin' has them trying to defeat each other in a game of bumper cars. Finally, Sneak King has players control the Burger King in a third-person perspective stealth game, where the King must sneak up behind hungry people and offer them Burger King products. Players are graded on how elaborately they deliver the food.
The games were available at Burger King restaurants from November 19 to December 24, 2006. They were priced at $3.99 each ($4.99 Canadian) with purchase of a value meal, and have each been rated "E for Everyone" by the ESRB.[7] While the games are now unavailable in stores, Burger King is still selling the games through its online store.[8] The games remain priced at $3.99 each, but they are now available as a set for $10.99. All three received low ratings from various game critics.[9][10][11]
The newest gaming venture is a series of games that will be developed by Seattle, Washington based mobile content provider Moblis. The games, designed to run on mobiles phones, will be promoted in US locations on menus and packaging and will be introduced spring of 2008.[12] Mobliss describes game play for the first game will involve vying for the role of the King's protégé by facing challenges and progressing in the virtual world of a Burger King-themed city.[13] The games will be purchased and downloaded using an SMS shortcode, and should be available on all major US carriers as Mobliss has direct publishing agreements with Sprint Nextel, AT&T Mobility, Verizon Wireless, Alltel and T-Mobile (USA).[6]
[edit] References
- ^ PRNewswire (23 January 2006). Burger King Corporation Selects Crispin Porter + Bogusky As Lead Creative Advertising Agency. HispanicBusiness.com.
- ^ Seth Stevenson (2004-10-01). Burger King is resurrecting a dubious icon. Why?. Slate.com. Retrieved on 2007-10-09.
- ^ Burger King Corporate Web Page
- ^ Burger King Masks at the Burger King online Store
- ^ A brand-name reminder. The Wall Street Journal (2007-03-05). Retrieved on 2007-10-04.
- ^ a b Fred Aun (2007-10-08). Burger King Makes Foray into Mobile Phone Gaming. ClickZ. Retrieved on 2007-10-09.
- ^ Brendan Sinclair (2006-10-02). Burger King orders up Xbox games. Gamespot. Retrieved on 2007-10-08.
- ^ The Burger King shop Games page
- ^ Sneak King isn't a good game, but it's so crazy and so cheap that it still manages to be weirdly compelling. Gamespot review of Sneak King
- ^ Pocketbike Racer is a bad kart-racing game that's often broken. Gamespot review of Pocketbike Racer
- ^ Big Bumpin' might have worked as a part of a large minigame collection, but on its own, it's sort of lame. Gamespot review of Big Bumpin'
- ^ Bill Ray (2007-10-08). Do you want a high-score with that?. The Register. Retrieved on 2007-10-08.
- ^ Mark Hefflinger (2007-10-08). Burger King Taps Mobliss to Develop Mobile Games. Digital Media Wire. Retrieved on 2007-10-08.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- RetroJunk.com A 1985 Burger King Kingdom commercial featuring the Burger King and the Duke of Doubt on Retro Junk.
- TV Acres.com The evolution of The Burger King
