Happy Thursday! Have you ever seen a bit of advertising that makes you want to scratch your head and ask “Why?” That’s what I did when I saw this banner ad for Burger King.

Original Creative Approach:

Agency personnel photographed folks in a restaurant after ordering a Whopper, then the photo was printed on a sticker and placed on the Whopper wrapper before giving it to the customer to reiterate it was made “just for them.” That’s great. Message served, right? Oh no…then some genius thought “let’s get their permission and use the the digital photo files for a banner.” You’ll see the results of the banner here.

Is it just me or does this seem really labor intensive and cumbersome for the restaurant staff? Not to mention, those photos are horrible! Who was the photographer? The Art Director’s blind cousin? I want to file this under epic fail.

Advertising needs to be smart. We kicked this around a bit and my team would have done it in reverse. Have web surfers upload their own photo to a rich media banner and the files then become part of the banner (upon approval). Been done already, right? Here is where it differentiates itself. The users who take part then are given a printable coupon for participating with their face appearing on said coupon. And yes. It could all take place in the banner in real time. The coupon is then downloaded or it is emailed to the user (I like the latter because the restaurant gains an email address for later communications) and the coupon is redeemed at the restaurant.

If you want to get really crazy the restaurant staff can cut out the image on the coupon and put it on the wrapper. Same result as the original creative concept without ad agency staff getting in the way of QSR employees during a lunch rush. I personally know what it’s like to get in the way, we really respect QSR staff. Which is why we created this and this.

But who knows, the agency probably was looking to burn hours at the end of the year…either way, I like our approach. It’s smart advertising.

Our interactive team loves a good challenge. Come to us with an idea and let’s kick it around. We’ll find a better way to wrap a burger.

Have a good week!

Jim Murphy, Director of Interactive Media
Hoffman | Lewis St. Louis