How Burger King Markets is an Awesome Lesson for Every Business. And it has an advantage to anyone looking to enjoy the irony of this. And they are not hiding it. They have made it their Marketing Directive. There is a lot to be Second Place and using it adventageously. And that is an Awesome Lesson in Marketing. And it makes me smile, laugh even when I eat there. It also makes their Commercials even more enjoyable.
Burger King Absolutely Uses “trolling”. They use what is called “Challenger-Brand Marketing”. It is part of their Marketing Strategoy or Directive. And McDonald’s is their primary target. They seem to have endless fun while doing it as well.
It is not an accidental thing. It is an intential “Rebellious Challenger” identiy. They are going against the Category Leader of McDonald’s. Their Marketing often says, in effect:
“We’re not the giant. We’re the bold alternative.”
Now let’s break down and share some famous examples:
1) The Whopper Detour (2018). This is a Legendary Troll move. And we remember it well.
Burger King went and geofenced McDonald’s locations. So you had to go near a McDonald’s to unlock a 1¢ Whopper in the BK app. Then it redirected you to Burger King near there. This was very intentional “geo-conquesting.” and it was Effective.
Explaining the Marketing genius:
- This drove app installs (huge increase in installs from this campaign)
- They used McDonald’s footprint against them to show that Burger King was right there as well
- This Generated huge PR. And it was funny.
- Turned rivalry into Attention Rivalry and Enlarged Engagement
2) The Moldy Whopper (this is a Marketing “How To Win” Lesson)
Clever Advertising, and the story is even better than we are going to cover here. Ever want to know why an Advertising Agency is Worth it. This is a key example. Commercial Created, showing a Burger King Whopper rotting over ~34 days (in speed film). This was to promote the removal of artificial preservatives. And it was an indirect jab at the internet myth that McDonald’s burgers “never decompose.” Though not sure why this is myth as it has been seen over and over again. I’ll say this, they sure do last a long time.
Explaining the Marketing genius:
- This was shock marketing
- “Real food gets ugly.” They even said that!
3) Clown Jabs about Ronald McDonald (The Clown):
Burger King has repeatedly, and continues to poke at Ronald McDonald:
- “Never trust a clown”
- Halloween ghost stunt dressing BK as McDonald’s Clown
- Horror-film tie-ins around clown culture and even eluding to Scary Food at McDonald’s
4) Social Media and Petty Humor
Burger King often acts like the underdog. The funny underdog:
- Burger King is Snark
- Fast responses
- Playful aggression
- Public clapbacks
They will continue this. They even went on to be snirky with their CEO and the Burger King Whopper after the McDonald’s CEO just made a fool out of himself and the food in Viral Clips.
Marketing Strategy Breakdown
The McDonald’s strategy is all about mass appeal, family, consistency, and scale (they can be everywhere)
Burger King strategy is all about disruption, humor, rebellion and being the challenger.
Did you see their Commercial about the Egg McMuffin, where they break into a McDonald’s and “Steal the Recipe” a English Muffin, an Egg and done. It is hilarous. Now we just need Burger King to keep with the “Cracked Real Egg” cooked in a RING, not a egg product that is emulisifed.
McDonald’s says “We’re the standard.”
Burger King says: “We’re the alternative.”
Why Does it work?
YES. And in large ways.
Think about this. Because McDonald’s is the market leader, Burger King gets Free Attention. They attach themselves to the Biggest Name, and win because of it.
This is a Classic marketing principle: “If you are #2, define yourself against #1.”
Think of the Others that Do This:
- Pepsi vs Coke
- Avis vs Hertz (“We Try Harder”)
- Apple vs Microsoft (old campaigns)