Long Sleep the King

When Burger King dethroned their creepy plastic-headed mascot last summer, nary a tear was shed throughout the realm. Females cheered, moms rejoiced and marketers wondered, “What took them so long?”

Negative emotional responses to characters, products or experiences, are never good for brands regardless of the buzz factor. It’s a simple question to ask, ”How does that make them feel?” You don’t need to be psychologist to know “creepy” is not a good response.

But when Brazil’s 3G Capital wielded $4 billion to seize the kingdom in 2010, they discovered it’s not easy to kill off a company’s namesake. The company had learned to live with lagging far behind McDonalds but when Wendy’s captured second place in burger sales in 2011, revolution was on every royal subject’s lips.

The king isn’t the only fatality. The old company-owned store approach is gone while Burger King works to bolster its franchise model. And, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, the royal ad agency responsible for the unnerving version of the king, was overthrown.

Less than a year later, it’s probably safe to assume the dreadful king is dead and gone forever since Burger King just reported a 94 percent jump in fourth quarter income and a 3.7 percent increase in same store sales in the US and Canada. It seems those who asked, “What took them so long?” raised a very good question.

Read more about Burger King’s turnaround HERE.

Share Knowledge

Continue Learning

Related Resources

Consumer Insights and Coronavirus: How Behavioral Science and Memory Immersion Help Reveal Truth During a Pandemic

At the beginning of the year, no one imagined that 2020 would be defined by a global pandemic. Nonetheless, in a matter of weeks, the impact of the COVID-19 coronavirus...

From Appreciation to Aspiration: Unlocking Your Organization’s Potential

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters enjoyed tremendous growth. From its humble beginnings as a coffee shop in 1981, the business bloomed into an enterprise worth more than $100 million. But, by...

The Appreciation Evolution: Moving From Your Organization’s Problems to its Potential

Declining profits and product quality. Failed cost reduction efforts. Strained relationships among employees and increasing pressure from competitors. Gina Hinrichs, an internal process consultant at John Deere, recognized plenty of...