Burger King advertises mouldy Whopper in anti-preservatives campaign
“Rather be ugly than fake”: The leading fast food institution is promoting a disgusting, mould-infested burger in a new ad campaign.
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Burger King has launched a daring promotional campaign, advertising an image of a mould-infested Whopper on televisions and billboards.
The disgusting image from the global chain, known in Australia as Hungry Jack’s, is hammering home the removal of artificial preservatives from its signature burger.
It has also released a time-lapsed video on Twitter, showing the careful construction of a burger being prepared for a photo shoot before it all turns ugly.
The video captures the mould growing on the franchise burger over a 34-day period, as it slowly collapses and turns blue.
“The beauty of real food is that it gets ugly,” the tweet’s caption said.
“That’s why we are rolling out a Whopper free from artificial preservatives.”
the beauty of real food is that it gets ugly. that’s why we are rolling out a whopper free from artificial preservatives. coming by the end of 2020 to all restaurants in the U.S. pic.twitter.com/yQL6kAYZrY
— Burger King (@BurgerKing) February 19, 2020
The unorthodox approach was lapped up on social media, being shared hundreds on times on Twitter in a matter of hours and attracting thousands of likes.
“What a beautifully shot commercial showing ugliness,” one user said.
“What an amazing way to showcase your new product! Really smart and fearless. Things do rot naturally,” said another. To which the official Burger King account replied: “Rather be ugly than fake.”
The preservative-free Whopper will be sold in several European countries including France, Sweden and Spain, as well as about 400 of the 7346 sites in the US.
But the company said all of the locations in the US will be selling the improved burger by the end of the year, with the aim to make the American-based network completely without artificial preservatives.
As for the local division, Hungry Jack’s?
“Hungry Jack’s famous flame-grilled 100 per cent Australian beef patty is preservative free,” a company spokesperson told news.com.au. “Whopper comes with fresh Australian grown lettuce, tomato and onion.”
The chain is famous for its bold commercial campaigns with the most recent being a cheeky swipe at its major rival, McDonald’s.
Last year it released its take on the golden arches’ famed Happy Meals to coincide with Mental Health Awareness Month in May.
Also served in a box, the “Real Meals” range was said to raise awareness of people’s realistic emotions with the slogan, “No one is happy all the time.”
The commercial featured a range of “real” people, including a man depressed sitting in a room, a bullied schoolgirl, a woman who has seemingly been sexually assaulted at work, a young single mother and a man crippled by student loans.
It’s not the first time the two fast-food giants have gone head-to-head, with many promotional campaigns poking fun at one another and mixing up their menus to stay on top of trends.
Get in touch at james.hall1@news.com.au or @James_P_Hall
Originally published as Burger King advertises mouldy Whopper in anti-preservatives campaign