BK LOVING ‘IT’
BURGER KING Deutschland GmbH
Issue 45 | December 2017
Agency
Grabarz & Partner Hamburg
Creative Team
Creative Grabarz & Partner Werbeagentur GmbH
Production Team
Rabbicorn Films GmbH Digital setup GmbH
Other Credits
BURGER KING Deutschland GmbH Marketing BURGER KING® Iwo Zakowski PR Emanate GmbH Media Vizeum Deutschland GmbH
Date
October 2017
Background
"It" was a book written by Stephen King in 1986 and turned into a film, which was premiered in September 2017.
It features a supernatural, flesh-eating killer clown called Pennywise and in Germany the film set box-office records.
Idea
Burger King hijacked the premiere with a simple stunt. Claiming that they had run their longest-ever ad by effectively turning "It" into a Burger King promotion, they simply projected the following words at the very end of the film:
"The moral is...never trust a clown. Burger King."
Results
Not known
Our Thoughts
BK has taken a few pops at McDonald's before, notably with the award-hoovering "McWhopper" campaign (Directory 37) and "#WhoIsTheKing (Directory 39) so they have form. For the audience, being given an excuse to laugh after two hours of being terrified and horrified, the joke must have had significant impact, a massive release of pent-up emotion that would make it truly memorable. Bravo to the person who spotted the opportunity to make BK a part of pop culture.