Burger King promotes its preservative-free Whopper with a fuzzy ad
Burger King has once again demonstrated how fun life can be when you’re a challenger brand with attitude.
On Wednesday, the burger chain unveiled a new ad campaign showing its iconic Whopper covered in mold. The message: Burger King is removing artificial preservatives from the Whopper, meaning it will eventually rot in really disgusting ways. That’s a good thing when your main competitor’s food is known—rightly or wrongly—for not rotting.
“Some will criticize. Some will love. Everyone will notice,” said Fernando Machado, global chief marketing officer for BK parent Restaurant Brands International, in a LinkedIn post about the ad today. “Risky is to do something no one cares about.” The campaign is from the Swedish agency INGO STHLM.
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
Puma partners with rapper J. Cole
Puma used the recent NBA All-Star Weekend to promote a new partnership with rapper J.Cole.
“Cole’s involved in product creation, marketing campaigns and cultural guidance,” said Adam Petrick, global director of brand and marketing at Puma. “He is going to be a key player in many of the things we do at Puma moving forward… Cole sits at the intersection of music and sport and represents everything that Puma stands for as a brand.”
The collaboration includes a new Sky Dreamer basketball shoe (a relaunch of the Sky LX from the 1980s) and an almost five-minute short film called The Dreamer about a young J. Cole never abandoning his dreams. Cole’s record label and production company is called Dreamville.
Hip-hop act has a bone to pick with Buffalo Wild Wings
Hip-hop act Bone Thugs-N-Harmony has “changed” its name as part of a new partnership with Buffalo Wild Wings. The name change, to Boneless Thugs-N-Harmony, is said to reflect the group’s discovery of the wing chain’s improved boneless wings.
The story of the name change is being told in a Behind the Music-style ad developed by The Martin Agency, which shows a rift developing between band members over the name change.
While three members of the group (Flesh-n-Bone, Krayzie Bone and Wish Bone) are down with the name change, another member, Layzie Bone, just can’t get on board—even after he’s extended a “sauce-covered olive branch” in the form of one of the boneless wings. They’re good, he acknowledges, “but they ain’t change your name good.”
The partnership includes a social media push, as well as a line of new Boneless Thugs-N-Harmony merchandise that is being promoted on a dedicated website.
The initiative comes after Buffalo Wild Wings ran afoul of some Houston Astros fans for a Feb. 14 tweet referencing the fallout from the sign-stealing scandal that has engulfed the Major League Baseball franchise. The tweet, which referenced UEFA’s decision to ban English soccer club Manchester City from Champions League play for two years and fine the team €30 million, did not mention the Astros directly, but read “THAT’s how you punish a team that cheats.”
That prompted people to call for a boycott of the franchise and post videos of themselves cutting up Buffalo Wild Wings gift cards. That led Buffalo Wild Wings to issue an apology the next day.
So last night was the roast of Buffalo Wild Wings, courtesy of the city of Houston. And honestly, we deserved it. Well done H-Town for coming to your team’s defense, and we're sorry about what we posted.
— Buffalo Wild Wings (@BWWings) February 15, 2020
Bezos donates $10 billion to fight climate change
Calling it “the biggest threat to our planet,” Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has announced a $10 billion fund dedicated to fighting climate change.
Bezos announced the Bezos Earth Fund via an Instagram post, saying that the global initiative will amplify known ways and explore new ways of fighting climate change. It will fund scientists, activists and NGOs—”any effort that offers a real possibility to help preserve and protect the natural world”—said Bezos.
“We can save Earth,” he said. “It’s going to take collective action from big companies, small companies, nation states, global organizations, and individuals.” Bezos is the richest person in the world, with an estimated net worth of $130 billion.
