Burger King has a new sandwich offering in Singapore called the “Super Seven Incher.” [1] To promote the new product, a local ad agency produced an outdoor ad which is now getting a lot of attention and criticism around the world [2].
[1]
The ad has been criticized for its use of sexual codes to sell the product. Read the full text of the ad:
Fill your desire for something long, juicy and flame-grilled with the NEW BK SUPER SEVEN INCHER. Yearn for more after you taste the mind-blowing burger that comes with a single beef patty, topped with American cheese, crispy onions and the A1 Thick and Hearty Steak Sauce.
The ad will run until the end of the month. Dan Mitchell [3] reacts to the ad:
They got two “blows” in there. Nice. The sandwich (by itself an obscenity), slathered in unnaturally ultra-white mayonnaise, is floating in the air directly across from the disturbingly pale profile of a young, gape-mouthed woman who looks frightened to death of the manly meat. Sexy!
So good adds [4]:
When I say “hot”, “meaty” and “7 inches” what do you think of? Well you aren’t alone. So did the ad minds behind this new campaign, who apparently just couldn’t resist the idea/imagery of a woman giving a blow job to a giant 7-inch hunk of meat. Just in case you couldn’t pick up on the subtlety of the idea, they decided to hit you over the head with it.
Garr’s posterous writes that the ad is stupid and insulting [5]:
On their website they touch on who their target is: “In Singapore, the bright and vibrant Americana décor has made our restaurants the favourite meeting place for young people, including college students and working professionals.” OK, so it's not families or young children (I guess), but this ad is still insulting to teens and young professionals. Where's the respect for your customer? Even putting the objectification of the woman in the ad aside, this ad is poor simply because it's so, well, stupid…it's not clever. Is this Burger King? Really? Who on earth at Burger King thought this would be a good idea?
This is not the first time that a Burger King ad was cited for its use of sexual themes. There was the square butts [6] ad to promote kiddie meals, an ad urging the customer to “pleasure yourself“ [7], a shirtless BK King [8], and an ad naming a product after a slang term for a photo of a vagina.
Burger King [9] released this statement in reference to the Singapore ad:
“Burger King Corporation values and respects all of its guests. This advertisement is running to support a limited promotion in the Singapore market and is not running in the U.S. or any other markets. It was produced by a locally-based Singapore agency and not by BKC's U.S. advertising agency of record, Crispin Porter and Bogusky.”
Lissa [10] has a message for Burger King:
I understand that you ran this ad only in a limited market (Singapore). I applaud your iota of common sense that kept you from running them world-wide. That being said — See, there’s this little thing called the Internet. It allows us to communicate with people all the way around the world — wow! So I’d advise you to refrain from running ads like this