Burger King's Gross New Ad Hopes To Sell 'Real Food'

Burger King has had some unusual advertising promos over the years — some of them have been downright dumb. Lately, their efforts seem to have focused on trolling their number one rival, McDonald's — in 2018, they actually had this truly bizarre promo in which customers had to be in (or at least right outside) a Mickey D's in order to unlock a special Whopper-for-a-penny promo in the BK app. Huh? What was that supposed to achieve? 

Also, who can forget the 2019 promo that satirized the whole Happy Meal concept by introducing "unhappy" meals. While Burger King's #FeelYourWay campaign was launched in partnership with Mental Health America, many found it to be inappropriate using a serious issue like depression to sell burgers and fries. Now once again, Burger King is stepping into "likely to backfire" territory with a commercial featuring — of all things — video footage of a Whopper as it grows moldy.

Just what point are Burger King trying to make by showing their famous Whopper in a state of advanced grossness? Well, they are actually trying to show that their food is "real," and therefore subject to spoilage. Perhaps, it's also a subtle (maybe too subtle) sideswipe at McDonald's, whose burgers, famously, do not decay — in fact, BBC News reveals that you can even watch a livestream of the last McDonald's cheeseburger and fries sold in Iceland before the chain closed all its locations there in 2009.

The moldy burger stunt is meant to draw attention to the fact that Burger King is now selling preservative-free Whoppers throughout Europe and in some U.S. markets as well, but intends to be preservative-free throughout this country by the end of the year. According to the company's recent press release (via Business Insider), "At Burger King we believe that real food tastes better." Well, no one's going to disagree with that. But, strangely enough, some might not be in the mood for a Whopper after watching that commercial, either. 

Guess it remains to be seen whether the struggling burger chain's latest promo will be a success, or whether it will be one more entry into the Burger King Advertising Hall of Shame.