The Burger King

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The Burger King is a character created as its advertising mascot for the international fast-food restaurant chain Burger King who became famous in numerous television commercials, including the Burger King Kingdom.

Contents 1 Abbreviations used in this article 2 History of the King 3 Return of the King 4 NFL commercials 5 Video Games 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Abbreviations used in this article

• BK - Burger King
• CP+B - Crispin Porter + Bogusky, US advertising agency
• QSR - Quick Serve Restaurant (industry term for fast food)

[edit] History of the King

The first appearance of the King was atop the original Burger King sign at the first store in Miami, Florida in 1956. The King sat atop the Burger King name drinking a beverage.

In the late 1960s/early 1970s BK started using a small, animated King in its children's advertising. The King was featured in a series of advertisements in which he would visit a BK for an interview with a television reporter or see a former court wizard. In all ads the King would present children with small gifts or buy them some BK food.

The original animated King was soon replaced by the "Marvelous Magical Burger King", an actor appearing as a red-bearded king who ruled the Burger King Kingdom and performed magic tricks (mostly sleight-of-hand, but sometimes relying on camera tricks). This campaign paralleled McDonald's McDonaldland children's commercials, which featured "Ronald McDonald", "The Hamburglar", and "Mayor McCheese", along with other characters and mascots.

[edit] Return of the King

The Miami based advertising firm of Crispin Porter + Bogusky took over the advertising account of BK on January 27, 2003^[1]. They began using a caricatured variation of the Burger King character from the Burger King Kingdom advertising campaign, now simply called "the King". An employee at Crispin Porter + Bogusky found a 1970s era, over sized King head for sale on eBay; originally used as an inspiration for brainstorming, it was eventually decided to restore the head and use it in a campaign.^[2] Employing the advertising technique called Viral Marketing, CP+B's ads generated significant word of mouth and for its new use of what various trade publications and internet articles labeled "the Creepy King" persona, an appellation that CP+B has begun to use in its ads. In this incarnation, "the King" is an actor who wears an over-sized, grinning mask that is similar to the actor played King. The King has been used mainly in a form similar to a movie monster in recent advertising campaigns. The ads have caught on with the public and The King has become very popular.

On the Internet, The King is something of a fad with jokes about his huge head, and frequently portrayed as a fiend with monstrous intents (and/or accompanied with the catchphrase "Where is your God now?").

In 2005, The King appeared on several spoofs on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

In October of 2005, Burger King began to sell Halloween masks resembling The King and Burger King's viral marketing character The Subservient Chicken. There was little promotion on these masks, as BKs website^[3] had no link to bkmasks.com website and no commercials were aired advertising them. Nonetheless, the masks quickly sold out, and some masks were also sold on eBay for hundreds of dollars. Some of the sellers on eBay also included a King robe and medallion, which the original purchase from www.bkmasks.com lacked. In October of 2006, the masks were again sold for the Halloween season. Unavailable for some time, the masks are now available again through BKs online shop^[4]. The general merchandise store has replaced the BK Masks site, and all old links now point to this page.

Although the advertisements were mainly shown in North America, advertisements featuring The King surfaced on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom as well as in Germany in early January 2006. The King appeared not to catch on with the UK market and was seemingly retired there after only two brief commercials (featuring him at an ATM and as a pole dancer). However, he returned in summer 2006 as part of Burger King's Superman Returns campaign.

In September 2006, BK began using the original animated King design from the 1970s on its cups, bags and in non tie-in kids advertising. The new (old) King is portrayed as a sarcastic type who sometimes gets in trouble for his mischief making adventures.

It has now been confirmed that the Burger King will be starring in his own feature-length film, and that the company, Burger King has lined up a studio and distributor for this film. Russ Klein, Burger King's president of global marketing strategy, won't reveal the studio's identity or the likely plot. But he says the movie could appear as early as the end of this year, with the film aimed at "creating a back story for the king."

[edit] NFL commercials

Beginning in 2005, commercials featuring The King were created by digitally altering classic NFL game footage. The King is superimposed over players, making it appear as though the King was involved in the play. Some of the players the King has been imposed over include Steve Young, Deion Sanders, and Moe Williams (receiving a lateral pass from Randy Moss). He has also been depicted performing the Lambeau Leap and dumping Gatorade on the head of former Miami Dolphins head coach Don Shula.

In August 2006, a commercial debuted showing The King holding a press conference with his "agent", Drew Rosenhaus.

[edit] Video Games

The first appearance of The King in a video game was in the boxing game Fight Night Round 3 from EA Sports which was released on all-formats, starting with the Xbox 360 release in February 2006. The King was available as the in-ring round guy, and later he was selectable as your boxing manager (his speciality was giving you "Heart"). There were also persistent rumors that he could be played as a boxer using a cheat code. However, some fans of the game regard his cameo as an example of excessive product placement.

In October 2006, Burger King announced that it would be releasing three video games for the Xbox and Xbox 360 consoles, starring The King and other mascots, such as the Subservient Chicken. In Pocketbike Racer, the mascots face off in a minibike race. Big Bumpin' has them trying to defeat each other in a game of bumper cars. Finally, Sneak King has players control the Burger King in a third-person perspective stealth game, where the King must sneak up behind hungry people and offer them Burger King products. Reportedly, players are graded on how elaborately they deliver the food.

The games were available at Burger King restaurants from November 19 to December 24, 2006. They were priced at $3.99 each ($4.99 Canadian) with purchase of a value meal, and have each been rated "E for Everyone" by the ESRB. ^[5] While the games are now unavailable in stores, Burger King is still selling the games through its online store^[6]. The games remain priced at $3.99 each, but they are now available as a set for $10.99.

The Burger King also appears in the computer wrestling game series SMF, as the arch-rival of Ronald McDonald and member of the Fast Food Order (a spoof on the New World Order) with Colonel Sanders and Hamburglar. Since appearing in the series, he has yet to speak.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• weemcee - a viral video site featuring an interactive dancing Burger King.
• RetroJunk.com A 1985 Burger King Kingdom commercial featuring the Burger King and the Duke of Doubt on Retro Junk.
• TV Acres.com The evolution of The Burger King
• The Burger King's MySpace site