Welcome to the spookiest edition of Creative Branding, where we are going to focus on a deliciously chilly brand campaign today. Previously we talked about Google’s rebranding and how that change has made the brand more endearing to its overall image as a tech giant.
“Something wicked is coming,” the burger chain said on Twitter, with a brief promo video featuring thunder and lightning and a lunar eclipse, with a burger standing in for the moon. That image, coupled with the reveal of their original Whopper dressed up in a black-colored bun, has got social media and burger lovers abuzz.
Image: Burger King
An intended or unintended side-effect of these burger buns have become the spookiest talk of the town. We are talking about how the food coloring used for the bun has trended the #GreenPoop hashtag on Twitter, ostensibly because of the fact that stools are turning green like Slimer from Ghostbusters.
Brand win or brand fail? That’s the question we’ve put to our panel today.
We asked people what they thought about this Branding idea from the House of Whoppers. Was the Black Bun Halloween offering from BK a masterstroke or a risky manuevre? Here’s what the people had to say.
- Henk C. Meerhof, specialist in visual communication and independent designer
- Giana Mucci, Visual/Social Producer – Yahoo Entertainment
- Aaron Saltzman, Vice President, Business Development & Marketing at Slingr
- Rocko Ostolaza, SEO/SEM – Marketing Professional
- Kyle Serba, Associate Athletics Director for Media Relations at North Carolina Central University
Halloween Has Become “Deliciously Dark”
First things first, I want to state that monetizing on themed special and holidays is no problem for me. Nor is it something new, I bet that even before our collective memory, we humans ‘monetized’ on special days like solar and lunar eclipses, solstices the birthdays of important people like chiefs and holy men and women. In the days of old most of the time it ended with a collective build of some kind of burial. With the coming of faith and believes it got better. We went from once or twice in a life time to yearly celebrations with commercial potential. And thanks to global media we end up with Whopping traditions like Halloween. Depending on your tradition and believe Halloween is connected with the ending of the harvest season, I would say a good season for trading and capitalizing. It is only a pity that the spiritual connection got ‘lost in progress’. Maybe we all will end up like Jack-0’-lanterns for this, eternally wandering Limbo with our bag of profits on our backs.
Not that I have a dark view of the future. And of course as designer, I find many things have to change – for the better with a bit of wisdom and luck.
Now To Those Dark And Delicious Developments
I have a natural suspicion regarding the color black or nearly black on my food. I’m not a fan of eating charcoal and – after watching some cooking shows on television – all my senses get activated if I hear that things are rather caramelized. I am a big fan of toffee and fudge, but this kind, no thanks!
Burger King will not get my vote this time. But Burger King made me sure interested in how this campaign will evolve in the USA. On could of course ask if the effects of this campaign are provoked by the concept of it or by the degree of hunger amongst North Americans, able and wanting to buy foods in this price range.
I am a bit disappointed on the execution of this burger though. With All Hallows’ Evening in mind I would have chosen the items between the dark bun parts from the color range of reds, oranges and yellows. Easy to do with red lettuce – orange and red tomato and or capsicum – some chili pepper for the coal in Jack’s lantern, and an orange colored burger.
Knowing about how much the food industry invests in developing and testing new products, also here we run on a budget bargain.
What Will Be Next?
I propose the Design Burger, on a PMS7447 colored bun on the bottom and a PMS300 bun on top. All this filled with color calibrated lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, cheese and burger.
I want to try the Burger King black whopper, for no other reason than seeing my poop turn green. #GreenPoop
— Aaron Saltzman (@amsaltzman) October 6, 2015
.@BurgerKing I’ve made a new graphic for your Halloween Burger. You’re welcome. #GreenPoop pic.twitter.com/IcIVemOiPX
— Giana Mucci (@RatedGiana) October 6, 2015
Maybe Burger King should bring the Black Whopper back for St. Patrick’s Day? #GreenPoop https://t.co/hLXIvmyHVM
— Kyle Serba (@KyleSerba) October 6, 2015
How was my turd after eating the #HalloweenWhopper ?#GreenPoop pic.twitter.com/tAL22JHPwY
— Rocko Ostolaza (@rockoide) October 5, 2015
Black or Green – Burger King Sure Has A Social Media Hit On Its Hands
They say that publicity, whether good or bad, is publicity nonetheless. And from the way people are thronging to BK outlets in the run up to Halloween, it does seem like someone who thought of this black bun and green goop campaign deserves a pat in the back for making people take about Burger King again. After all, isn’t that what every marketer and brand manager hopes to pull off? A Halloween campaign by Burger King has ensured that other brands have their work cut out for them.
