Burger King’s latest whopper
posted at 4:00 pm on June 24, 2009 by Ed Morrissey
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Joe Gandelman notices an interesting new theme to Burger King’s latest promotion — and it ain’t subtlety. Take a look at the ad itself and see if you can discern the subtext of this ad campaign:
The “Super Seven Incher” will “BLOW your mind away.” Note, too, the shocked expression on the young woman’s face. Does it look as though she anticipates enjoying the experience? Joe isn’t amused:
Just when you thought the vulgarization of culture that is now worldwide due to the unifying influence of cable, the Internet and You Tube can’t get any more vulgar, Burger King proves you wrong with news of its new advertising campaign for its “Super Seven Incher Sandwich” that’s fun for journalists to report on, will get lots of buzz but would hurt the company if it was unveiled even five years ago. It leaves nothing to the imagination.
First look at the ad above. It’s almost condescending in the way it’s trying to grab young customers and assume this is how most young customers think and that they’ll approve of it. One of the puns for a journalist (or blogger) is obvious: it sucks.
As Joe notes, we’ve moved a long way from “Have it your way.” Now we have PornoBurger. What’s next, a celebrity endorsement from Ron Jeremy?
Burger King had plenty of help in putting this fiasco together, as Gawker (link NSFW) points out:
[J]ust look what the ad wizards over there have come up with now to stop BK’s bleeding! I mean, what better way to sell oblong meat sandwiches than by suggesting fellatio?! How did they ever think of that? Just look at all that piping hot beef laden with creamy mayo aligned perfectly with the open mouth of a wide-eyed blonde, sitting just above the line “It’ll Blow Your Mind Away.” Who doesn’t want to run on down to BK for one of those right now? For benefit of those of you who don’t “get it,” this is what’s known as “branding” in the industry. Or something.
Great job, guys — and I’m pretty sure I’m safe in assuming that the originators of this campaign were men. The model in the pic suggests that they were men more familiar with blow-up dolls than real women, too. How many moms will make the choice to go to Burger King after this? Or will they opt for the more friendly atmosphere at McDonalds, Wendy’s, and other fast-food options?
Update: From the comments, it appears that BK is only running this ad overseas — although it’s entirely in English. It’s still disgusting.
Update II: Of course, if it’s for overseas, why does it have the dollar sign for the price?
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I’m waiting for the fold out with the pickles and onions…
right2bright on June 24, 2009 at 4:22 PM
Soddom and Gemorrah–and we all know what happened to them.
Special K on June 24, 2009 at 4:22 PM
Ditto on the Quiznos Toasty Torpedo commercial.
The Ugly American on June 24, 2009 at 4:23 PM
Corey Wayne on June 24, 2009 at 4:16 PM
So you like a good seven inches of beef and special sauce?
LincolntheHun on June 24, 2009 at 4:23 PM
I just called too and was told the same thing about it only running in Singapore. As if in 2009 an advertisement like that could stay in one location.
I told them it will absolutely kill them. They were idiots for approving such an offensive ad anywhere, at any time for any reason.
robm on June 24, 2009 at 4:23 PM
As long as it doesn’t have that freaky new “King” in it. That guy really disturbs me and I won’t go to BK until they stop using him in their ads.
gregbert on June 24, 2009 at 4:23 PM
The only males ordering this will be beta males and homos.
That ought to set a new standard for BK…
frikkin’ idiots.
AW1 Tim on June 24, 2009 at 4:23 PM
The burger you’ll want to swallow.
….sorry.
Seriously though, I find the new ad slightly less creepy than the one’s with the king in them.
Interweb Troll on June 24, 2009 at 4:24 PM
The guy told me that US marketing has no control over the international advertising, but they’re working on it. I told him I have 4 kids and we ain’t going near a BK if they don’t stop this crap.
It’s BURGER KING, for cryin’ out loud!
“I’ll have a Big Kids meal… and the porn sandwich…”
mankai on June 24, 2009 at 4:24 PM
….maybe they tried to reach Linda Lovelace first?
Dale in Atlanta on June 24, 2009 at 4:24 PM
is that diameter or thickness?
I always like a good steak to throw on the barbi.
upinak on June 24, 2009 at 4:24 PM
I’m taking bets on how many people get banned on this thread…I think we need a free pass, this is just low hanging fruit.
HornetSting on June 24, 2009 at 4:24 PM
What do you think it means?
Mr. Joe on June 24, 2009 at 4:24 PM
Why didn’t they just go all the way and have Ron Jeremy be the pitch man….literally.
RobCon on June 24, 2009 at 4:24 PM
BKC has prepared a statement that this ad will not be seen in the US. Strictly for foreign markets only.
nocontrol on June 24, 2009 at 4:24 PM
Or more like.. WTF did that Oven just say!?!?!?
upinak on June 24, 2009 at 4:19 PM
I posted the commerical for Quiznos towards the beginning of the thread. At 4:06.
milwife88 on June 24, 2009 at 4:25 PM
crispy onions? ditch the onions and replace them with mushrooms.
Darth Executor on June 24, 2009 at 4:25 PM
I asked if they were familiar with the system of tubes known as “the internet.”
mankai on June 24, 2009 at 4:25 PM
friggin….OUCH!
Limerick on June 24, 2009 at 4:25 PM
If your burger is softer than you’d like, Cialis may be for you.
Gaunilon on June 24, 2009 at 4:25 PM
Starting with Ed?
Mr. Joe on June 24, 2009 at 4:25 PM
I got it, just adding to your clever response…so far I like this the best:
right2bright on June 24, 2009 at 4:25 PM
…gives a whole new meaning to the phrase; “..I’ll take that with a side order of Thighs as well….”
Dale in Atlanta on June 24, 2009 at 4:26 PM
To be fair, it does look good.
RobCon on June 24, 2009 at 4:26 PM
Can I get extra jizz on my 7 incher, please?
lorien1973 on June 24, 2009 at 4:26 PM
First off, this ‘burger’ doesn’t look the least bit appetizing. It’s got what looks like those small onion things on top that you know are reconstituted dried onions that taste horrible and lend a sweet flavor to the sandwich. BEEF SHOULD NEVER, EVER TASTE SWEET.
Second, why as a male would I eat something I now associate with being phallic? No thanks. YOU suck it.
Third, this ad is supposed to appeal to the younger crowd I know, but to inform the older folks here as to why; oral sex among the youth (up to 26 years old at least) is like a handshake now. It’s absolutely abhorrent. Nothing wrong with oral sex mind you, it’s just that it means a tad more than a handshake to me…it’s very personal. I wouldn’t stick my phallus in the face of someone I didn’t know and have liked a lot for some time.
This is liberal media at it’s best (yes, it can be much worse, you know this).
If you like this ad and this disgusting burger with it’s phallic imagery, buy it by all means. But if you don’t, don’t buy the burger for starters, but send fur-burger king a note as to exactly why you aren’t buying their ‘meat’.
Spiritk9 on June 24, 2009 at 4:26 PM
Boy, this is almost as nauseating as that Quizno’s commercial, where you see all of these phallic looking sandwiches pointing up and hear that voiceover of a deep man’s voice which says “put it in me, Scott”. And of course, “Scott” looks as fem-metrosexual as a dude can be.
Honestly, it made me want to never go to Quizno’s. Now, same with BK.
ErinF on June 24, 2009 at 4:26 PM
Can’t watch YouTube on this computer. So it wasn’t like I was brushing you off.
upinak on June 24, 2009 at 4:26 PM
upinak on June 24, 2009 at 4:24 PM
Ow Ow Ow
Fire bad!
LincolntheHun on June 24, 2009 at 4:26 PM
Oh, that’s much better. [roll eyes]
“BK only supports the sex slave trade in SE Asia. Thank you. Have a Big Kids meal.”
mankai on June 24, 2009 at 4:26 PM
AWESOME!!!!
jdkchem on June 24, 2009 at 4:26 PM
What’s the problem? The add is totally OK…in SF or NYC.
Sapwolf on June 24, 2009 at 4:26 PM
Wha????
upinak on June 24, 2009 at 4:26 PM
Could you really tell someone you wanted a “7 incher”?
lorien1973 on June 24, 2009 at 4:27 PM
It’s probably been said, but where is the outrage for all the other ads just like this?
hardees thick burger? Paris Hilton, then some other chick licking herself clean in a split dress on step?
Subway? Fiver dollar ‘footlong’? Bunch of folks with hands representing “size”. Some asian chick who makes most of us remember the movie Full Metal Jacket. Too buku…
Burger king is just following suit. Along with Abercrombie, Calvin Klein, Axe body spray, etc. It’s been going on forever.
The one thing you are right about is the innuendo is slowly giving way to just coming out and saying ‘our product will get you laid.’
Dumbing down of a culture. Slow death of Society in search of the dollar.
Thunderstorm129 on June 24, 2009 at 4:27 PM
John Holmes could not be reached for comment. Still dead.
As for Jeremy, he won’t have time to be the King. He just opened a new swinger’s club in Oregon, and is rumored to be cast as the lead in the bio about al Qaeda’s Khaled Sheik Mohammed.
Del Dolemonte on June 24, 2009 at 4:27 PM
Wha????
upinak on June 24, 2009 at 4:27 PM
My guess is they’re still giggling uncontrollably back in the locker room at the ad agency.
TexasDan on June 24, 2009 at 4:27 PM
Just to bring us all back to sobriety, the purpose of the ad is (ostensibly) to sell sandwiches. That is what ad agencies get paid for.
Will anyone really want to walk up to the counter and order this thing?? Picture some young lady walking up and asking for a super 7-incher, please. Or and old lady. Or a young man. Or an old man.
BigD on June 24, 2009 at 4:27 PM
At least it doesn’t come with the free iced tea, with two bags of tea hanging above….Stay classy, BK
ShawarmaWife on June 24, 2009 at 4:27 PM
I still like the Whopper and their Choc shakes, but the King, and the other failed ads they had before bringing on the creepy King were just.. so.. effing stupid that as soon as you realised there was a BK commercial coming on the tube, the race was on to change the channel.
Hell, they don’t even flame broil them on site anymore.
What hath AMerica wrought?
WOE BE UNTO THEE BK!!!
44Magnum on June 24, 2009 at 4:28 PM
A bunch of stodgy old Grey Poupon lovin’ conservatives get their panties in a wad over a hamburger ad… Let me guess…a Transformers movie tie-in with hundreds of corpses in the background would be much cooler…
Why is it that movies with gratuitous violence involving killings get rated R while movies with a penis touching a vagina/mouth/anus get an X? That kind of thinking is bass ackwards.
CMonster on June 24, 2009 at 4:28 PM
I want a 7 incher and a hot apple pie.
IYKWIMAITYD.
lorien1973 on June 24, 2009 at 4:28 PM
I blame BUSH!
HornetSting on June 24, 2009 at 4:29 PM
Great… I just printed a Quizno’s BOGO coupon via HA two days ago!
mankai on June 24, 2009 at 4:29 PM
..is it possible to actually be Jealous of a “sandwich”, for gosh’s sake?
Dale in Atlanta on June 24, 2009 at 4:29 PM
Mommypundit, I’m with you — when I want fast food, I head for Chick-Fil-A. Big chicken fillets, great service, nice lemonade, fast service, and so strong in their Christian principles, they aren’t open on Sundays. My sister used to work in a preschool for kids with special needs, and the Chick-Fil-A near them used to treat the whole gang to free food and drinks every so often. A nice chain, with nice people and food worth going out for. I had some for lunch today, in fact.
KyMouse on June 24, 2009 at 4:29 PM
As I recall, Flo and Eddie used to do a bit about a sleazy drive-in called “Jack in the Pants”. That would be perfect for this.
Del Dolemonte on June 24, 2009 at 4:29 PM
Argentina? It all makes perfect sense now.
jdkchem on June 24, 2009 at 4:29 PM
Do -not- order this with extra mayo.
Just sayin’
lorien1973 on June 24, 2009 at 4:29 PM
Wha????
upinak on June 24, 2009 at 4:27 PM
Fire Tube Steak
BAAAAAAAAAD!
LincolntheHun on June 24, 2009 at 4:29 PM
OMG, Ron Jeremyt is SO perfect for that role!
Now I’m ten times disgusted. The body hair was the first dry heave, now this….
Spiritk9 on June 24, 2009 at 4:29 PM
This is really supposed to make guys want to eat these sandwiches?
RightOFLeft on June 24, 2009 at 4:29 PM
POTD unless someone tops it.
Sapwolf on June 24, 2009 at 4:30 PM
Paris Hilton looks like a genetic experiment gone awry – the combining of human and pigeon genes.
OhEssYouCowboys on June 24, 2009 at 4:30 PM
Suddenly this thread has me typing in a high voice…..
Limerick on June 24, 2009 at 4:30 PM
The add would work if it were Chrissy Matthews in the picture and they called it the “Obama Burger”………
Seven Percent Solution on June 24, 2009 at 4:30 PM
Is MacDonald’s stock going up on this news?
Sapwolf on June 24, 2009 at 4:31 PM
….I think I have “7 incher” -ENVY!
Dale in Atlanta on June 24, 2009 at 4:31 PM
It goes down smooth with a vanilla milkshake.
lorien1973 on June 24, 2009 at 4:31 PM
y’all slay me…
bwah ha ha ha ha…
texan_forever on June 24, 2009 at 4:31 PM
Burger King must have figured that if AT+T could get away “*69″, why not?
BTW, Burger King sucks … which makes it all appropriate.
progressoverpeace on June 24, 2009 at 4:31 PM
Butterbeans and Susie: I want a hot dog for my roll.
Apollo Theater, Harlem, 1920s.
Attila (Pillage Idiot) on June 24, 2009 at 4:31 PM
I’ll take a number 9, super-sized, and one of those cheesecake thingys.
Limerick on June 24, 2009 at 4:31 PM
If they add bacon, this’d be perfect!
Iblis on June 24, 2009 at 4:32 PM
Women should order one. Take it back and say “Just like my ex-boyfriend, it’s only 5 inches.”
lorien1973 on June 24, 2009 at 4:32 PM
Dale in Atlanta on June 24, 2009 at 4:31 PM
I am sorry for you but dude there are some secrets you take to the grave.
That would be one.
LincolntheHun on June 24, 2009 at 4:32 PM
uh oh…got the autofilter on the last comment
CMonster on June 24, 2009 at 4:32 PM
Could just have a……whopper.
Big Orange on June 24, 2009 at 4:32 PM
I never said tube!
And what red blooded American hates Steak? :)
upinak on June 24, 2009 at 4:33 PM
Good food, and the ads are cute, too. No pr0n there.
mr.blacksheep on June 24, 2009 at 4:34 PM
me.
HornetSting on June 24, 2009 at 4:34 PM
Balh!
upinak on June 24, 2009 at 4:35 PM
I prefer the strips at Jack in the Box. Better breast meat.
Daggett on June 24, 2009 at 4:35 PM
Oh no you didn’t!!!!
ladyingray on June 24, 2009 at 4:35 PM
lorien1973 on June 24, 2009 at 4:32 PM
You sharing again Lorien?
LincolntheHun on June 24, 2009 at 4:35 PM
Good food, and the ads are cute, too. No pr0n there.
mr.blacksheep on June 24, 2009 at 4:34 PM
I’m in Atlanta; Chic-Fil-A is great; but those darn little Burgers at Krystals are pretty good also…
Dale in Atlanta on June 24, 2009 at 4:35 PM
Wait a minute…that doesn’t look like “A-1 Thick and Hearty Steak Sauce”.
dmarie on June 24, 2009 at 4:35 PM
LMAO, hahahhaha. XD
nickj116 on June 24, 2009 at 4:35 PM
She had her chance to ask for a whopper but she blew it.
Daggett on June 24, 2009 at 4:36 PM
The comp of the model’s head is terrible.
CTD on June 24, 2009 at 4:36 PM
I don’t know any stats on this, but is it true that most of the male advertising people in the industry are gay? Or, is the % gay significantly higher than the general population? That might have something to do with it.
It seems that male flight attendents are gay for the most part or it seems if you travel that they are more effeminate.
Sapwolf on June 24, 2009 at 4:36 PM
Somebody!!!! Make it stop!
ladyingray on June 24, 2009 at 4:37 PM
Why are you making a big deal out of sexual innuendo?
Conservatives are such hypocrites!
CMonster on June 24, 2009 at 4:37 PM
Better:
She had her chance to eat a whopper but she blew it.
Daggett on June 24, 2009 at 4:37 PM
Sorry, ladies. I don’t like steak.
I am still the same person, I still believe in less government, lower taxes, I’m pro-life, and I hate obama.
Can I still hang out at the treehouse?
HornetSting on June 24, 2009 at 4:37 PM
lorien was born for this thread.
HornetSting on June 24, 2009 at 4:38 PM
LOL!!! This is just to easy.
Big Orange on June 24, 2009 at 4:38 PM
….I just remembered, they had that Ad jingle back in the 70’s…(seriously)
“…it takes two hands, to handle a Whopper”!
Guess they finally got around to showing us why…
Dale in Atlanta on June 24, 2009 at 4:38 PM
Just curious Ed, did you think that the McDonald’s “Big and Tasty” ad was also disgusting? That was several years ago. This is much ado about NOTHING.
Andy in Agoura Hills on June 24, 2009 at 4:38 PM
I’ve always enjoyed the BJ Broiler.
jamie gumm on June 24, 2009 at 4:38 PM
I’m surprised they didn’t show you the mushroom before they cook it.
VibrioCocci on June 24, 2009 at 4:39 PM
She likes her 7 inches of meat between two warm buns. Covered in special sauce.
lorien1973 on June 24, 2009 at 4:39 PM
What’s the big deal about 7″ anyway. That’s 2″ shorter than…oh, never mind.
Spiritk9 on June 24, 2009 at 4:39 PM
I dunno…it’s up to uninak…I like steak too.
ladyingray on June 24, 2009 at 4:39 PM
You kiss your mother with that mouth?
juanito on June 24, 2009 at 4:40 PM
Yes…I can see that…
ladyingray on June 24, 2009 at 4:40 PM
Girl: “After that 7-incher, this french fry is strangely unsatisfying.”
Daggett on June 24, 2009 at 4:40 PM
I wonder if it comes with mouthwash and extra napkins.
fourdeucer on June 24, 2009 at 4:40 PM
She just don’t see the value in a five dollar footlong.
Big Orange on June 24, 2009 at 4:40 PM
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