Whopper Virgins

I came across this Burger King ad and loved it. The premise is that you can never really have a true, blinded taste test because everyone is influenced partly by brand, or has tasted one or the other burgers before. But what if you found people who had never heard of McDonald's or Burger King or the Whopper or the Big Mac? Which would they prefer? Of course, I'm not sure how accurate the tast test would be, given that hamburgers and beef are so outside of these people's cultural sphere.

This was done by Crispin Porter + Bogusky. It’s a little market research, a little ethnography, a little advertising and a lot of American domination of other cultures. After all, if everyone in the world hasn’t eaten a Whopper or Big Mac, then the terrorists have won.

It’s pretty interesting all around…

One very very lonely calorie

I'm not sure how I feel about this series of ads by BBDO, Dusseldorf. They are the new ads for Pepsi Max, which only has one calorie. Granted, these are ads that will, presumably, be placed in another country, but I still think they are in poor taste. I like the art and editorial aspect of them, but it doesn't quite seem fitting for a company that is trying to sell a brand. Seeing them in a high-end gallery somewhere, yes. On a billboard or in a magazine, no.


In short, these ads seem in poor taste. I'm surprised that Pepsi corporate didn't nix these right away.

To see the full series, click here.

And we've got a winner

I love advertising. And when I come across a particularly genius idea, I feel compelled to pass it along to others.

This is a viral movement by Wendy's. You may have seen the "meatatarian" commercials promoting The Baconator. If you go to meatatariansunite, you sign up to become part of the movement and receive a coupon for a Baconator. Pretty ingenious, I think. You get people talking and then you give them something free for the effort.

The commercial is pretty funny, too, and totally appeals to their main target market - guys who like to eat meat (I guess that's redundant, huh?).

Crazy Lettuce