Posted on 12/04/2008 12:01:52 PM PST by Pontiac
Next week, Burger King kicks off a major ad campaign that involves a unique twist on the tried-and-true marketing technique of taste testing. The campaign is already generating controversy.
One ad, set to begin airing Monday, features images of villagers in traditional garb choosing the Whopper over the Big Mac. A Transylvanian woman, an Inuit tribesman from the Icelandic tundra and others point and, in their native tongues, declare their preference for Burger King's flagship product.
Burger King says it was trying to find "Whopper Virgins," which is also the name of its campaign. "We wanted to see how the Whopper would perform in a world that didn't have ad or marketing awareness or any sentimental attachments" to either brand, says Russ Klein, president of global marketing, strategy and innovation at Burger King Holdings.
Teaser ads, which started running earlier this week to help build excitement for the campaign by showing snippets from the experiment, have been criticized by bloggers and pundits as tasteless and potentially exploitative.
Another blogger, on Walletpop, wrote: "What might irk people is the concept that Burger King is taking its fat-laden fast food to people who aren't used to this stuff in their diets, who aren't usually subject to our crass commercials, and who probably don't really care too much."
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Gia forbid that a remote village get the chance to sample American fast food in exchange for a little face time on American TV.
I have seen the commercials.
They are really funny.
I’ve been reading posts with these old hippies up in arms, basically their argument goes, ‘how dare Burger King exploit these poor, starving people, don’t they know these people live in poverty’..
Yep, the hippies are insulted that Burger King gave these ‘poor, starving people’ food.
Great, you get to ‘splain’ what virgin means to a eight year old, wonderful.
a=an
Just say that it’s someone who does something the first time (in this case whoppers).
Better keep them away from “Extra Virgin Olive Oil”. Also “Virgin Airlines”, movies like “The 40 year old Virgin”, etc. ;)
Let's try unspoiled. Or inexperienced
One of those would be the meaning of the word as used in the article.
That was MY main concern.
But of course, why worry about a simple word in a food ad (never mind the blatant name of a big modern corp) when you have myriad ads for helping men with sex, women’s pads and Victoria’s Secret “shows” on regular TV all the time?
The hell with the shows; we need to boycott the ADS!
Then when they find out what it really means, they’ll know you lied to them, the shame. What next, a restaurant chain named, “Hooters”?
Thats the loony left for you; it is better that you starve to death than you be exposed to American culture or capitalism.
Teh King is Teh Mack Daddeh.
Unfamiliar with that great old story of the birth of Christ, are they? Now’s a great time to tell them.
Those are real meanings for the word. (in this case used euphemistically)
"It means your first time doing something."
That's how I handled it.
NBD.
L
For me that is the only attraction that a beach offers.
That beats the heck out of the creepy commercial where the guy wakes up and the King is in his bedroom!
How about a taste test competition between Whopper and Big Mac among Hindus? Vegans?
Sounds like the same bitter hippies who burned down the burger stand at the original Woodstock. The Hippie Generation Baby Boomers lied when they alleged that only GenX/Y committed arson and violence at a Woodstock event.
You can’t live in poverty when you don’t have a monetary system to begin with.
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