MSIX: Industry leaders weigh in on Burger Kings’ Mouldy Whopper campaign
Humans are emotional, not rational, which is crucial to consider when developing marketing campaigns.
Often, over-reliance on data and research rather than trusting your gut can stifle great ideas.
On Wednesday, MSIX panellists delved into the age-old debate of marketing intuition versus consumer insights, asking: who really knows best?
In a live interactive session, Ideally’s head of marketing, Maura Halpin; Telstra’s head of creative excellence, Anna Jackson; Cummins and Partner’s global CEO, Michael McConville; and jnr. founder, Ryan O’Connell put marketing intuition to the test using real-life examples.
The panel examined three major campaigns that gained significant traction, including Burger King’s The Mouldy Whopper advert.
“We’re going to look at what the advert is trying to communicate, the objective and our thoughts as experts on whether we think it changed behaviour,” moderator Halpin said.
“Then we’ll unpack the questions: can marketing experts predict human behaviour from past experience, and can we actually make sense of consumer behaviour by asking them directly?”
In 2020, Burger King made headlines after releasing a global campaign showcasing its beloved Whopper burger decaying over a 34-day period.
The risky campaign was a statement that the fast-food chain had removed 8,500 tonnes of artificial preservatives from its products worldwide.
“It was ridiculously effective, regardless of your point of view,” McConville said.
“It was talked about widely at the time; we’re still talking about it today.”
“It was very disruptive,” Jackson agreed.
“What they really leant into and leveraged was taking burgers that could have been preserved for decades, that had been really well spread on social media, and completely subverted that.
“It got people absolutely paying attention, and it built memory structures.”
Despite initial scepticism, the campaign increased Burger King’s sales by a staggering 14%, resulting in industry awards, including the Grand Prix at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.
The campaign also generated 8.4 billion impressions, $40 million in earned media value and an uplift in positive brand sentiment of 88%.
“It led to a change of perception on the quality of Burger King’s food and an increase in considerations to visit,” Halpin said.
Around the same time, McDonald’s was forced to address concerns about its burgers not decomposing.
“In the right environment, our burgers, like most other foods, could decompose,” a statement read.
Unsuprisingly, a direct comparison to McDonald’s emerged despite the absence of any mention of the brand in the campaign.
“It got billions of impressions as earned for a brand that has a third of the size of marketing budget wise of Maccas,” Jackson added.
“It worked. It got attention. The sales lined up with it. And better to be looked over than overlooked.”
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topics
Anna Jackson
Burger King
Cummins & Parnters
Ideally
Jnr.
Maura Halpin
McDonald's
Michael McConville
MSIX
Ryan O'Connell
Telstra
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