Burger King's 'Whopper Virgins' Viral Marketing Campaign

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Case Details:

Case Code : MKTG248
Case Length : 22 Pages
Period : 2007-2009
Pub Date : 2010
Teaching Note :Not Available
Organization : Burger King Corporation
Industry : Fast Food
Countries : US

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This case study was compiled from published sources, and is intended to be used as a basis for class discussion. It is not intended to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a management situation. Nor is it a primary information source.

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Excerpts

Background Note

Burger King, headquartered in Miami, Florida, USA, recorded revenues of US$ 2.53 billion for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2009 (Refer to Exhibit II for financial overview of Burger King in fiscal year ending June 2009)...

The Challenge

Since the launch of the Whopper in 1957, Burger King had employed various conventional promotional campaigns to advertise the burger. A TV commercial titled 'Burger King: Home of the Whopper' was initiated in 1958...

The Whopper Virgins Campaign

This led to CP+B coming up with the concept of a taste test campaign. To demonstrate that the Whopper was the best burger in America and tasted better than the BigMac, the company decided to conduct what it called an 'unbiased' study across the world...

Campaign Culturally Insensitive?

The campaign evoked mixed reactions from analysts as well as critics. While critics rejected the campaign as distasteful and offensive, some analysts opined that it was successful in generating huge publicity for Burger King, which was what the agency had intended in the first place...

Documentary Not Convincing

Many ad experts were not satisfied by the 'taste test' campaign strategy. They said that the judgment of native tribal people may not be able to change consumers' perceptions in US markets about the best American burger...

Burger King's Response

Both Burger King as well as the ad agency refused to accept that the campaign had humiliated native people and said that respecting the culture of tribal people had been given top priority while recording the documentary...

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