The Burger King


The Burger King is a king character used as the primary mascot for the fast-food restaurant chain of the same name. Throughout the company's history, the king has undergone several iterations. The first iteration of the Burger King was part of a sign at the first Burger King restaurant in Miami, Florida in 1955. Later signs showed the King sitting on a "burger throne" as well as atop the BK sign while holding a beverage. In the early 1970s Burger King started using a small and animated version of the King called "Kurger Bing" in its children's advertising, voiced by Allen Swift. In 1976, the original animated King was replaced by the "Marvelous Magical Burger King" which was a red-bearded and Tudor-era king who ruled the Burger King Kingdom and performed magic tricks that were mostly sleight-of-hand but sometimes relied on camera tricks or involved his "Magic Ring" which could summon copious amounts of food. The Burger King Kingdom advertisements were discontinued in the late 1980s in favor of the BK Kids Club Gang and other subsequent advertising programs.
When Miami-based advertising agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky took over advertising of Burger King in 2003, they created a caricatured rendition of the Burger King character from the Burger King Kingdom advertising campaign now simply called "the King". During the use of CP+B's new version of the Burger King, ads generated significant word of mouth for its new use of what various trade publications and Internet articles labeled "the Creepy King" persona, an appellation that BK came to favor and CP+B used in its ads. However, this iteration of the King failed to provide a consistent message regarding the company and its products, prompting the company to terminate its relationship with CP+B upon the takeover of Burger King by 3G Capital in 2010 and announce the following year that the character would be retired.
Five years later, the company brought back the King in May 2015 with a paid appearance as a member of Floyd Mayweather, Jr.'s entourage before the Mayweather vs. Pacquiao fight. The next was an appearance in the grandstands at the 2015 Belmont Stakes, with the character standing behind Bob Baffert, the horse trainer of American Pharoah. The King returned in 2017 and onward in commercials promoting the new "Mac and Cheetos" and flame-grilled Whoppers.

History

1960s–1980s

During the late 1960s to early 1970s, the Burger King was introduced as a small and animated king character in its children's advertising voiced by Allen Swift and known as Kurger Bing. Kurger Bing was featured in a series of advertisements in which he would visit a Burger King outlet for an interview with a television reporter or see a former court wizard who now worked for the chain. In all ads the King would present children with small gifts or buy them some Burger King food. Many of these commercials featured Kurger Bing reciting the restaurant's slogan, "Burger King, where kids are king!" Based on an investigative journalism report by news outlet , in 1973, the Burger King met Cap'n Crunch, which launched various promotional collaborations between the two's respective brands.
In 1976, Kurger Bing was replaced by the "Marvelous Magical Burger King" which was a red-bearded and Tudor-era king played by Dick Gjonola, who ruled the Burger King Kingdom and performed magic tricks that were mostly sleight-of-hand but sometimes relied on camera tricks or involved his "Magic Ring." The King was accompanied by usually two or more children and notable characters such as "Sir Shake-a-Lot", the "Burger Thing", "The Duke of Doubt" who often doubted the King's abilities and the robotic "Wizard of Fries". This campaign paralleled McDonald's McDonaldland children's commercials, which featured "Ronald McDonald", "The Hamburglar" and "Mayor McCheese" among other characters and mascots. The Burger King Kingdom advertising campaign was discontinued by the late 1980s in favor of the BK Kids Club Gang ads. This version of the King returned in 2020 on a cameo in Cows Menu Commercial featuring his face in a Ferris Wheel.

2004–2011

After Miami-based advertising firm Crispin Porter + Bogusky took over advertising of Burger King on January 27, 2003, they began using a new caricatured iteration of the Burger King character who was simply called "the King". During production, an employee at CP+B found a 1970s'-era oversized Burger King head for sale on eBay which was originally used as inspiration for brainstorming; it was eventually decided to restore the head and use it in a campaign. The King appeared in commercials for Burger King starting in 2004. In this incarnation, the King is an unnamed actor who wears an oversized grinning mask that resembles the 1970s version of the Burger King and who often appears in various unexpected places such as in bed with people or behind doors and walls, only to offer them Burger King food. Employing the advertising technique called viral marketing, CP+B's ads generated significant word of mouth for its new use of what various trade publications and Internet articles labeled "the Creepy King" persona, an appellation that BK has come to favor and CP+B uses in its ads.
Due to sluggish sales and customer aversion, Burger King retired the 2000s version of the Burger King character in 2011 following a "food-centric" marketing approach. Burger King chief financial officer Josh Kobza explained that the reason behind the removal of the "creepy" character was because he "scare away women and children" from the chain.

2015–present

The character returned when Burger King paid $1 million to have him included in Floyd Mayweather, Jr.'s entourage for his May 2015 fight with Manny Pacquiao. The King then appeared in a Burger King commercial for the return of chicken nuggets in June 2015.
Horse trainer Bob Baffert was paid $200,000 to allow The Burger King to stand behind him in the grandstands during the televised broadcast of the 2015 Belmont Stakes, where American Pharoah won the Triple Crown. Baffert had turned down $150,000 to allow the mascot to appear with him at the 2015 Preakness Stakes. The Burger King was also on hand with Baffert when at the 2018 Belmont Stakes, he became the 2nd trainer to win two Triple Crowns with Justify.

Advertising campaigns

Crispin Porter + Bogusky

In October 2005, Burger King began to sell Halloween masks resembling The King and Burger King's viral marketing character The Subservient Chicken. There was little promotion on these masks, as Burger King's website had no link to the bkmasks.com website and no commercials were aired advertising them. Nonetheless, the masks quickly sold out, and some masks were also sold on eBay for hundreds of dollars. In October 2006, the masks were again sold for the Halloween season. Unavailable for some time, the masks are now available again through Burger King's online shop.
Although the advertisements were mainly shown in North America, advertisements featuring the King surfaced on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom as well as in Germany in early January 2006. The King appeared not to catch on with the UK market and was seemingly retired there after only two brief commercials. However, he returned in summer 2006 as part of Burger King's Superman Returns campaign.
In September 2006, Burger King began reusing the animated King character known as Kurger Bing from the late 1960s and early 1970s on its cups, bags and in non-tie-in kids' advertising. This new rendition of Kurger Bing is portrayed as a sarcastic type who sometimes gets in trouble for his mischief-making adventures and appears as a simplistic hand puppet.
In July 2007, The King appeared in several commercials promoting The Simpsons Movie as a Simpsons series character complete with the show's typical traits of four fingers, yellow skin and an overbite.
The ad campaign for the BK Homestyle Melt sandwiches depicted a group of women, presumably mothers, who have attempted to kill the King through various means such as putting a hit on him or attempting to run him over with a car. It is implied this is done because the new products are moving in on the women's territory, home cooked meals.
The character has appeared in the tie-in promotion of the film , commercials for a cross-promotions with the NFL and DirecTV's NFL Sunday Ticket sports subscription package.
A further series of advertisements featuring Brooke Burke, which premiered during Super Bowl XL, featured the King orchestrating an elaborate Broadway-style show called "the Whopperettes": women dressed as burger condiments and toppings in a Ziegfeld Follies type production. The "Have it your way" slogan and "Creepy King" comment also made its way into the lyrics.
In a 2007 commercial to promote the restaurant chain's new Western Whopper sandwich, the King is shown in full royal attire against an obviously fake backdrop of a Southwestern desert, doing a jig-like dance to banjo music. His head is slightly modified so that he wears a handlebar mustache in the style of the Old West, and is juxtaposed with shots of Burger King customers who, upon consuming a Western Whopper, acquire similar mustaches regardless of age or gender.
In 2007, Burger King introduced a television advertising campaign in which a Burger King restaurant in Las Vegas, Nevada told customers that the company had stopped selling the Whopper sandwich. The ads showed the startled reactions of customers that Burger King would discontinue selling its most popular sandwich. A second round of related commercials showed actual customers who had ordered a Whopper instead being provided with a Big Mac from McDonald's or a hamburger from Wendy's. After the customers complained to the Burger King restaurant manager, the King would emerge from the kitchen with a Whopper on a silver platter.
In a 2008 commercial, which takes place in the future, a retro-futuristic robot version of the Burger King delivers a new breakfast wrap to a person who is waking up. The purpose of the advertisement was to market Burger King's new Cheesy Bacon BK Wrapper.
An animated version of the Burger King appears at the beginning of each episode of Seth MacFarlane's Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy, sponsored by Burger King, bursting through the movie screen and trying to escape from some kind of danger behind him, such as angry jungle natives, a dramatic explosion, etc.
In 2009, the Burger King advertised a Kid's Meal cross-promotion with SpongeBob to the tune of "Baby Got Back" by Sir Mix-a-lot. The lyrics are replaced by references to SpongeBob SquarePants.
The Kingons are used to advertise the 2009 Star Trek film. The advertising and related Kingon Defense Academy web site states that they are an illegitimate offspring between the King and a Klingon woman. The Kingons are a trio of two males and one female that all feature the plastic mask of the King modified with features of the later Klingons, namely head ridges and Fu Manchu mustaches on the two males and the King's crown on all three.
In 2010, a second attempt was made to launch the King in the UK, with a series of TV and newspaper commercials, starting a few days before his launch, with sneak peeks accompanied by the tag "He's Coming".

NFL commercials

Beginning in 2005, commercials featuring The King were created by digitally altering classic NFL game footage. The King is superimposed over players, making it appear as though the King was involved in the play. Some of the players the King has been imposed over include Steve Young, Deion Sanders, and Moe Williams. He has also been depicted performing the Lambeau Leap and dumping Gatorade on the head of former Miami Dolphins head coach Don Shula. These commercials were referenced on the ESPN program SportsCenter, when The King was facetiously dubbed an NFL Rookie Of The Year candidate.
In August 2006, a commercial debuted showing The King holding a press conference with his "agent", Drew Rosenhaus.

Video games

The first appearance of The King in a video game is in the boxing game Fight Night Round 3 from EA Sports, starting with the Xbox 360 release in February 2006. The King is available as the in-ring round guy, and later he is selectable as the player's boxing manager.
In October 2006, Burger King announced that it would be releasing three video games for the Xbox and Xbox 360 consoles, starring The King and other mascots such as the Subservient Chicken. In Pocketbike Racer, the mascots face off in a minibike race. Big Bumpin' pits them against each other in a game of bumper cars and finally in Sneak King, players control the King in a third-person perspective stealth game where the King must sneak up behind hungry people and offer them Burger King products. Players are graded on how elaborately they deliver the food.
The games were available at Burger King restaurants from November 19 to December 24, 2006. They were priced at each with purchase of a value meal, and have each been rated "E for Everyone" by the ESRB. While the games are now unavailable in stores, Burger King is still selling the games through its online store. Although Dollarama is now selling them for $2.00 each. The games remain priced at $3.99 each, but they are now available as a set for $10.99. All three received low ratings from various game critics.
In 2008, a series of games were developed by Seattle, Washington based mobile content provider Mobliss. The games, designed to run on mobile phones, were promoted in U.S. locations on menus and packaging. According to Mobliss, the goal of the first game is to become the King's protégé by facing challenges and progressing in the virtual world of a Burger King-themed city. The games could be purchased and downloaded using an SMS shortcode, and were available on all major US carriers that Mobliss had direct publishing agreements with: Sprint Nextel, AT&T Mobility, Verizon Wireless, Alltel, and T-Mobile.