Strange Move Burger King

The discussion we had in class recently about fast food restaurants and the way they position themselves/the message they send with their advertising got me thinking about a series of Burger King commercials that I remember seeing months ago. I'm not sure if they're still on the air anymore but I'm sure most people would remember them.

The commercials centered around the concept of Burger King getting rid of the Whopper out of the blue. The commercials filmed people's reactions when being told the Whopper was gone, followed by their relief to find out it was all just a big joke. People had some pretty intense reactions to finding out the Whopper was missing, many saying they would never come back to the restaurant again. That always struck me as an odd message to send out.

Now I know many, if not all, fast food restaurants highlight certain items off their menu in their commercials. McDonalds does it all the time, Wendy's is doing it ad nauseum right now with their chicken snack wraps, and so on. It's a great way to help a franchise stand out from the others by really narrowing the focus down. I get that.

However in the Burger King spots, I always took the message as being the Whopper is literally the only thing worth eating at Burger King. There are so many people in these commercials saying "well then I have no reason to come back" or "what are they going to do without the whopper?" I understand their angle but it's always come off as a bizarre message to me. They in a way are saying that without the Whopper, they got nothing.

If Burger King wants to position themselves as "Home of the Whopper" that's great. The problem is they need to highlight the burger itself, not compared to the rest of their menu items. To have people saying more or less that it's the only good thing to eat there, is not a very effective way to position themselves. That is all.