While some of Burger King's Twitter followers are still moaning about the proposed merger with Tim Hortons, many more would rather talk about bacon or ice cream—or what on earth happened to Chicken Fries.

And BK is there with a soothing @reply. Actually, 15 of them.

A playful marketer going back to its celebrated work a decade ago with Crispin Porter + Bogusky, BK always likes to spice things up. And adding limited-time items like Chicken Fries to the menu gives the brand a reason to load up on social. But take them away, and Twitter wants to know why. Luckily, BK knows just how to explain it.

Social Media Profile (as of 9/24/14)
Facebook Likes: 7.3 million
Twitter Followers: 819,811
Instagram Followers: 78,338
Responding smartly to complaints—serious or not—in social is a useful, underrated skill. Many marketers still copy and paste boilerplate, but a glance at BK's Twitter feed shows how personalized it is.

Yes, the replies to the Chicken Fries outage are all variations on a theme. But the brand whipped up at least 15 different responses, many of them slyly comical. This kind of one-on-one customer service is time consuming, but for a brand that wants to be truly conversational online, it's no longer optional.

@sydneyy_hou You'll see them again. Stay tuned.

— Burger King (@BurgerKing) September 23, 2014

@KatelinB_ It was a limited time kind of thing. They’ll be back again next year. #ChickenFries2015

— Burger King (@BurgerKing) September 23, 2014

@__babygirl04 Legends never die. They’ll be back next year. #ChickenFries2015

— Burger King (@BurgerKing) September 23, 2014

@Kaliforniuh Put away the tissue. Chicken Fries will be back in 2015. #ChickenFries2015

— Burger King (@BurgerKing) September 19, 2014

Recent Advertising

In an interesting move recently, the brand brought back a 2006 Chicken Fries TV spot created by CP+B and aired it on Thursdays with the hashtag #TBT.

The CMO's Philosophy

"Don't be chained to the historical, conventional rules of an industry. To be effective, a marketing strategy needs to be disruptive and adaptive. Creativity is a business tool," says chief marketing officer Eric Hirschhorn.  

Fast Facts
• In 1953, the chain was founded in Jacksonville, Fla., as Insta-Burger King. The "Insta-" moniker came from the machines used to cook the burgers, the Insta-Broilers. It was dropped in 1959 when the chain restructured.
• In 1967—with 274 locations and roughly 8,000 employees—Burger King was acquired by the Pillsbury Corporation. Since then, BK has been a subsidiary of a number of corporations, including Grand Metropolitan, a few private equity firms (Bain Capital among them) and finally 3G. As a result of the 3G acquisition, in 2010 Burger King was spun out and became a privately held company again.
• The iconic "Have It Your Way" campaign debuted in 1974.
• The company debuted the Pride Whopper in June, and this month launched the Kuro Burger and Kuro Diamond Burger in Japan.

—Brand of the Day is a daily feature on Adweek.com. To submit a brand for consideration, contact Kristina.Monllos@adweek.com.

Top photo: Mike Mozart/Flickr Creative Commons

Billy Eichner's persona on his show Billy on the Street is so memorable that as soon as fans saw the Burger King ad below, they immediately thought of Eichner—and began lobbing insults at BK and calling the agency behind it lazy.

Man on the street characters are anything but new, but Eichner's scream-filled spin is a fresh take that has endeared fans and celebrities alike. The BK spot, with its own shrieking spokesman, might not hit exactly the same notes, but you can understand the grumbling.



Also, the BK spot just isn't that funny. Eichner's show isn't hilarious because of the format; it's hilarious because of Eichner himself. The BK spot isn't on YouTube. But of course, in the the Internet age, any imitation will be discovered—and ridiculed—eventually, whether it's a sketch show celebrating its 40-year run or a 15-second spot.

Burger King did not immediately respond to AdFreak's requests for comment. But as you can see, McDonald's has already weighed in.

@billyeichner Can’t wait to see you! Oh, and bring Elena!

— McDonald's (@McDonalds) October 13, 2014

 
Check out some of the other tweets below.

Hey @billyeichner you know you’ve made it when Burger King has a man on the street commercial with a guy yelling at passersby about burgers.

— scharpling (@scharpling) October 13, 2014

Please tweet @BurgerKing& tell them to stop stealing from #BillyOntheStreet. Then I'm going over there & I'm gonna FLAME BROIL HIS DICK.

— billy eichner (@billyeichner) October 13, 2014

Yo @BurgerKing, stop stealing from the hilarious @billyeichner and stick to what you're good at: giving me diarrhea.

— Seth Rogen (@Sethrogen) October 13, 2014

An ad agency knew @billyeichner's bit well enough to sell it @BurgerKing. And thus should also know better than to fuck with Billy Eichner.

— Bryan (@bryanlark) October 13, 2014

Dear @burgerking, if @billyeichner stalked ppl in the street in a giant weird plastic head & royal robes selling his meat,YOU'd be SO PISSED

— Adam Shankman (@adammshankman) October 13, 2014

Hey @burgerking, you were stupid if you think hiring some random actor to rip off @billyeichner was going to work. I WAS AVAILABLE!!!

— Michael Ian Black (@michaelianblack) October 13, 2014

We've been gawking at him since he first stepped onto the pitch 22 years ago. Not much has changed since. The footballer turned international star has commanded our attention with his athletic performances as well as his looks. And that doesn’t seem to be changing anytime soon.

Since the decline of his career (which would ultimately lead to his retirement) the global star has been working commercialization, full press. Throughout his career Beckham has teamed up with Pepsi, Samsung, Adidas and Burger King. Who can forget those H&M ads? Most recently, the icon has hooked up with his pal Guy Ritchie (who also directed H&M) for the launch of the Haig Club Whisky campaign, a glitzy ad with gorgeous scenery.

In honor of his latest spot we've supercut some of his most memorable ads. Enjoy!

Video edited by Mac Smullen

Insiders say fast-food marketing is a blood sport, and Burger King and its CMO Eric Hirschhorn are in the thick of it. Just ask Billy Eichner. On Oct. 12, the caustic comic cried foul on Twitter in the wake of a BK ad that was uncannily similar to Eichner’s shtick.

Hey @BurgerKing-thanks for stealing my act for ur new commercial!! Except its not as funny & everyone knows u stole it. GET YOUR OWN IDEAS.

— billy eichner (@billyeichner) Oct. 13, 2014

That tempest came on the heels of the media squawk that the No. 2 burger chain was using its acquisition of the Canadian Tim Hortons chain as a way to beat U.S. taxes. Fortunately for BK, Hirschhorn—a private equity lawyer by training—is used to this rough and tumble stuff. We got him on the phone during a lull in the fighting.

Big fast-food brands like Burger King are part of American pop culture. But that also means they’re catnip for everybody on social media. Is that a blessing or a curse?
My team and I realize that we live in a social world. We know we have to listen and react fast. At the same time, we have to be careful not to diverge from the conversation that already exists. If a brand like ours approaches social media from an arm’s length, it doesn’t work.

Obviously, you know the deal with Billy Eichner and his horde of Twitter and YouTube fans. He claimed that your TV ad for chicken nuggets was a copy of his man-on-the-street routine. Did you expect that reaction, or did it catch you off guard?
I had no idea that people would get so crazy about 10 chicken nuggets for $1.49. [Editor’s note: The chain’s PR rep cut in here to state that the company had no more to say on the topic.]

Well, your chicken fries reintroduction also got a massive online response—the good kind. Was that part of the plan? Yes, we were counting on it. The surprise for me was that even though chicken fries were taken off the menu two years ago, there still had been several thousand tweets a day about them. So I knew it would be a major event when BK Chicken Fries were brought back, and sure enough, within three days there were 150,000 social media mentions.

With your background in law, you’ve been called the anti-CMO. Does the label fit?
Yeah, it’s sort of true. I don’t come from a traditional marketing background, so I don’t have a preconceived notion of how things should be done, based on the past.

Like, for instance ... ?
I fill my team with a variety of people like engineers, bankers, chefs, nutritionists, store designers and private equity people. There is a lack of overlapping skills. We don’t try to use old ways to solve new problems.

You’re on the road a lot. That must give you a chance to learn about regional tastes. Name a dish—it can’t be on the Burger King menu—that you really liked and where you ate it.
I got to try the best barbecued pork around the country, and at the BarBQ King in North Carolina, I enjoyed the best barbecue in my life.

Burger King HQ is in Miami. That’s not a shabby food town, either.
Here in Miami, I know the places to find the best key lime pie.

From posting pictures of perfectly styled burgers to responding to consumers' seemingly never-ending complaints, fast-food restaurants' use of social media runs the gamut.

To better understand how effective social media really is for these brands, SocialFlow tracked Facebook chatter across seven fast-food restaurants—McDonald's, KFC, Subway, Burger King, Sonic, Taco Bell and Wendy's—from Oct. 1 to 29.

It's important to note that Taco Bell went dark on social media on Oct. 28 as part of a marketing stunt to promote a new mobile ordering app, so a small portion of the data (from Oct. 28-29) is not indicative of how the brand typically fares on social media.

One of the key takeaways: Having a massive following doesn't correlate to engagement. For example, Subway only claims 27 million Facebook "likes" compared to McDonald's 51 million. But, the brand raked in 972,273 Facebook engagements (measuring shares and "likes") compared to Mickey D's 451,970.

Check out the below chart for a look at how often the brands post and the engagement that they are getting on Facebook. 

Meanwhile, data from Amobee Brand Intelligence tracked the sentiment for all seven brands during the same time frame on Twitter.

Fast-food chains often face "social backlash," leaving some experts to question if brands should play on social platforms. But Amobee's data show that the bulk of fast-food-related chatter is neutral. Whether that impartiality is a win or loss is up for debate, but it does suggest that brands shouldn't shun social media.

The chart below breaks out the sentiment for each of the seven brands between Sept. 29 and Oct. 28, measuring total mentions and whether the chatter was positive, negative or neutral. The percentages are rounded, meaning that every brand's total may not add up to exactly 100 percent. 

At the corner of Grand and Varick streets lies One Hudson Square, an Art Deco factory-turned-office building that won landmark status last year. It's also home to Horizon Media—one of New York's largest media agencies and an Adweek 2014 Media Plan of the Year winner.

Since moving onto the 16th floor four years ago, the agency has taken over the two floors below. The 250,000-square-foot space accommodates a staff that has swelled to over 1,000 employees. Horizon, whose clients collectively spend more than $4.7 billion in media annually, in the last year has added Turner Broadcasting and Burger King to its roster, which also includes Geico and Corona.

We decided to take a look at Horizon's digs as the shop comes off a strong year. In the video above, CEO Bill Koenigsberg and chief talent officer Eileen Benwitt share some of their favorite spots in the office, which is sure to please yogis and movie buffs.

If you're apartment hunting for a three bedroom/two bath/one Burger King, this might be the spot for you.

Spanish agency La Despensa equipped a tasty pad in downtown Madrid with a BK kitchen and menu counter for a stunt touting the arrival of the chain's home delivery service. You've got familiar brand signage, colorful meal displays and even some guy named Michael, dressed in a BK uniform, ready to take your order.

Because the agency listed the unit on local real-estate websites for roughly half its market value, "we had around 800 calls in five days asking to see the place," La Despensa creative director Luis Monroy tells AdFreak. Hidden cameras recorded the reactions of prospective tenants, who seem amused and pretty psyched about the experience.

"It took around three days to assemble the restaurant after weeks of searching for the perfect place," Monroy says. "Can you imagine what it's like to carry up all the kitchen tools, digital screens for the menu board … and the bar of 300 kilos to the third floor with no elevator?" Members of the marketing team, production company and agency all pitched in to help with the heavy lifting.

Of course, authentic BK cuisine was served. "It is a much more complete experience with a Whopper in your hands," Monroy says. Soon after it finished the video, La Despensa (which translates to "The Pantry"—perfect, right?), the apartment, which really had been on the market, was snapped up, "unfortunately without the restaurant, and at a higher price."

This well-done prank manages to stay on-point and satisfy without seeming overcooked. And that's kind of rare in this category.

One day after McDonald's revealed that CEO Don Thompson was stepping down after a bad year for the fast-food chain, its chief competitor went there.

We always welcome everyone. pic.twitter.com/KTmwCARsky

— Burger King (@BurgerKing) January 29, 2015

Man, BK, wasn't it bad enough for Thompson that Mickey D's stock jumped after the announcement? And that he lost his seat on the board, too?

To be fair, the tweet seems like it was designed to be lighthearted. But it's highly unusual to see a brand reference a rival's corporate executives in any fashion.

Maybe McDonald's will answer back with a tweet about Burger King—an American-made brand for 60 years—moving its operations to Canada to avoid Uncle Sam's taxes. Stay tuned.

Meanwhile, chief brand officer Steve Easterbrook will take over as the new McDonald's CEO.

Turkish artist Mehmet Gozetlik has created a fascinating study in iconography with his latest work, titled "Chinatown," where he deconstructs popular Western-based logos and reinterprets them in Chinese.

The resulting work is an interesting study in the effectiveness of a mark, and a true testament to the indelible impression these logos have in our minds. In the video below, Gozetlik shows us a glimpse into his process of creating one of his neon-sign designs into an actual neon sign:

"Chinatown is a Chinese translation of the trademarks in a graphical way," says the artist on his website. 

"It's a carefully arranged series of artworks showcasing 20 well-known Western brand logos with maintained visual and narrative continuity. 'Chinatown' pushes viewers to ask themselves what it means to see, hear, and become fully aware. 'Chinatown' also demonstrates our strangeness to 1.35 billion people in the world, when you can't read Chinese."

Instead of simply translating the brand names into Chinese, the logos include a generic description of the product written in Chinese. So, even for those fluent in Chinese, the logos appear somewhat unbranded. 

Take a look below at some of these interesting studies in branding and see if you can figure them out on first glance:

MasterCard

Starbucks

Shell

Lego

Burger King

London Underground

Converse

Levi's Jeans

Chiquita Bananas

NASA

7-11

Lufthansa 

Diet Pepsi

Martini vermouth

Via Design Boom.

At Burger King, a hen named Gloria tops the pecking order when it comes to deciding which restaurant will serve Chicken Fries.

In an unusual marketing stunt designed to get tongues clucking, the fast-food chain and agency David are sending the bird on a national tour of select BK locations.

At each of her stops, Gloria is presented with bowls of feed marked "Yes" and "No." If she chooses to dine from the bowl marked "Yes," Chicken Fries will be served at that restaurant, but only for one day.

"Gloria has the final word," says BK. "She can't be bought, seduced or swayed. After the decision, fans can take celebratory or sad-face photos with her." (I'd like to think that most folks have better things to do with their time, but this is America, after all.)

After disappearing from BK menus a few years back, Chicken Fries—deep-fried chicken strips served with side sauces—returned last summer for a limited time. Now, seeking maximum publicity for the popular item, the chain's sending Gloria out among the masses.

#RandomGloria and #ChickenFries are the campaign hashtags, and there's a website with a daily live stream of Gloria's travels. Of course, it's all being chronicled on YouTube for those who can't catch it live.

Gloria's first stop was Tuesday in Bayonne, N.J., where she was greeted by chants of "Chicken Fries! Chicken Fries!" as she ascended her platform and thrust her beak into the "No" bowl. I thought the throng might pluck her feathers and slap on the batter right then and there. Luckily, Gloria survived to visit a BK in Colmar Manor, Md., where the town's mayor exclaimed, "We're going to declare this Chicken Fry Day!" which I thought was a tasty bit of unintentional wordplay, even if it was Wednesday when she said it.

Some commenters are crying foul and claim it's sadistic for a chicken to decide if her own kind will be served as food to humans. They've branded the whole enterprise as mean-spirited.

I say, if the campaign ultimately lays an egg, blame the marketing suits who really rule the roost. Gloria's clearly just winging it.

Last week, KFC gave Colonel Harland Sanders a makeover, tapping SNL veteran Darrell Hammond for the return. Earlier this month, McDonald's brought back the Hamburglar, who was simultaneously reviled and loved. 

Are fast-food brands all vying to revive their mascots? And if we are entering what we'll call Mascot Madness, then who should be the next one to be resurrected? 

Here are a few we think should stay dead, followed by some others we wouldn't mind seeing again. 

Stay Dead: 

5. Burger King's Herb

The campaign's concept—tracking down a man who'd never tasted a Whopper—was fun but the execution fell flat. Herb turned out to be a squirrelly weirdo who was uncomfortable with the spotlight, and that's not necessarily who you want for your brand mascot. 

 

4. Taco Bell's Chihuahua (Gidget)

While the Taco Bell Chihuahua yielded interesting camera work, especially when the spots offered point-of-view shots from Gidget's perspective, the talking dog aspect got old fast. Gidget was everywhere, too, and a revival would just feel dated. 

 

3. Quiznos' Spongmonkey

It's surprising that the Spongmonkeys ever made it to air. They're bizarre, ugly and a little off-putting. What began as an Internet phenomenon created by Joel Veitch crossed over into mainstream marketing with Quiznos, giving the brand a distinct, albeit odd, voice. But did it make you want a sandwich? Probably not. 

 

2. The Domino's Noid

There was always something off about Domino's Pizza's Noid. Why did he want to make your pizza cold? Why did he hate quality pizza? Sure, the animation was fun, but the Noid was a silly, annoying concept. 

 

1. McDonald's Grimace

Out of all of Ronald McDonald's friends, Grimace has always been the creepiest. He's a big purple blob. Why? Who knows! Initially introduced as a villain, Grimace transitioned to become a part of Ronald's group of friends—but he still never quite fit. 

 

Revive: 

5. Showbiz's Billy Bob

Sure, Showbiz Pizza has been defunct since the early '90s, but there was something delightfully fun about Billy Bob. He had pizzazz. And because Showbiz was initially under the same company as Chuck E. Cheese's, he could be reintroduced as part of the mouse's family. 

 

4. Arby's Oven Mitt

The Oven Mitt is one of the only mascots that had a deep and abiding love for the food he was hocking. He had a nice singing voice, too.

 

3. Tastee-Freez Twins

The Tastee-Freez twins—Tee and Eff—were adorable. The dollops of ice cream on their heads stayed on message, and if Tastee-Freez brought them back, it could be a fun way to recall the brand's 1950s launch.  

 

2. Pizza Hut's Pizza Head

Pizza Head was off-putting, like something out of a bad acid trip. But he's also somehow endearing, and a revival might corner the expanding stoner market for Pizza Hut. 

 

1. McDonald's Mayor McCheese 

If you're selling cheeseburgers and you've got a mascot with a cheeseburger for a head, how is that not a winning idea? Plus Mayor McCheese's outfit was much cooler than any of the other McDonaldland characters. 

 

You can't keep a good King down.

Burger King's creepy, plastic-faced King character, who was sidelined from TV ads four years ago, will return Monday night in prime time in a 15-second commercial for a Chicken Nuggets deal—his first appearance in a BK spot since February 2011.

The ad, created by Pitch Inc., isn't much to look at creatively. But it affirms BK's commitment to the character even after his long absence from TV.

"The King has been breaking status quo for decades and has earned his space in pop culture. He conveys the confident and bold spirit of the Burger King brand, which you can see comes to life in everything we do," BK CMO Eric Hirschhorn tells AdFreak.



The King hasn't been totally AWOL. He did, oddly enough, walk in with Floyd Mayweather and his entourage at last month's big boxing match against Manny Pacquiao. That appearance cost BK a cool $1 million, Fortune reported, though it didn't go over well with domestic violence advocates who oppose any deals with Mayweather, given his history with women.

CREDITS
Client: Burger King
Agency: Pitch Inc.
Chief Creative Officer: Xanthe Wells
Executive Design Director, Creative Director: Helena Skonieczny
Associate Creative Director, Copywriter: Heather Parke
Associate Creative Director, Art Director:  Kimberly Linn
Account Director: Audrey Jersin
Account Executive: Christina Gocoglu
Director of Broadcast: Julie Salik
Production Coordinator:  Ivana Banh
Chief Financial Officer, Chief Operating Officer: Pej Sabat
Chief Strategy Officer: Sara Bamossy
Junior Strategist: Lexi Whalen
President: Rachel Spiegelman
Editing Company: Bicep Productions
Editor: Nate Connella
Asst. Editor: Gary Burns
Editing Producer: Esther Gonzalez
Animation, Visual Effects:  Terry Politis
Color:  Bob Festa, Company 3
Audio Post Company: Bicep Productions
Engineer: Luis Rosario
Production Company: Woodshop
Director: Trevor Shepard
Executive Producer:  Sam Swisher
Producer: Ursula Camack
Director of Photography: Tom Lazaravich
Music: Motive Music Sound
Composer: Jeremy Adelman
Producer: Samanta Balassa

It's hard to forget a fast-food chain's tagline. The ads are everywhere, the restaurants are everywhere and those jingles are so darn catchy. But long after they're gone, can you still remember them?

Take this quiz and see how many old-school taglines you can match with the correct fast-food chain. 

In terms of building online buzz, fast-food marketers have tried some seriously strange tactics in recent years.

While challenged by slumping sales and increasingly competitive fast-casual restaurants, fast-food brands lead the pack in terms of one-off marketing and PR campaigns that target millennials.

Here are are five of the weirdest digital exploits that marketers have used to get people talking.

Pizza Boxes Project Movies
When Ogilvy & Mather wanted to connect the dots between Pizza Hut and movies, it turned boxes into film projectors.

A detachable lens in the middle of each pizza pops into a perforated area of the box. People then use a smartphone to scan a QR code that links to a website that plays a movie.

Propping up the phone on a makeshift stand inside the box then projects the movie on a wall or screen.

Deed-Fried Emojis?
Like all fast food chains these days, Burger King is trying to be hip with younger consumers.

So, it built an emoji app to bring back chicken fries on its menu. Teens can send branded stickers of the deep-fried food to their friends. Would you do that?

Hashtag-Inspired Snacks
The snack brand employed 3D printers to make cookies at the South by Southwest Interactive festival in 2014.

The activation in Austin, Texas, included physical vending machines that assembled cookies in real time as people tweeted about the brand. The tweets often determined the flavor of the cookie.

Anyone hungry for a hashtag?

Phones Shouldn't Be Finger-Licking Good
Playing off of the chicken chain's "Finger Lickin' Good" slogan, the fried chicken chain's "Tray Typer" campaign in Germany equipped restaurant trays with Bluetooth-enabled mats so that people could use their phones without touching them with greasy fingers.

The mats had built-in Wi-Fi and were rechargeable. According to Serviceplan—the agency behind the campaign—social media chatter located around the restaurants grew, although it's not clear by how much.

Social Slices
Online ordering is so 2014 for Domino's. Now all it takes is tweeting a few pizza emojis to order a pie.

Earlier this year, the brand and Crispin Porter + Bogusky started tweeting like crazy to announce the new service, causing other brands like JCPenney to jump into the fun.

' . .

— Domino's Pizza (@dominos) May 12, 2015

How to convince fast-food diners that Burger King's Big King burger is a superior option to the iconic McDonald's Big Mac? Invite Golden Arches superfans to Brazil, feed them the new competition, and then brand them with tattoos.

That's what the São Paulo agency David did to highlight the debut of the new offering, permanently added to U.S. menus in 2013 but introduced in Brazil last week.

In a funny and unexpected YouTube video and accompanying social-media campaign, David and its partners—production company Crane.TV and one-named director Vandalo—tracked down five Big Mac lovers so devoted to those two all-beef patties that they each bore Big Mac tattoos. The five were lured to Brazil with the promise of an unspecified Burger King taste test.

As five cameras rolled, they tried the Big King, loved it, and then were introduced to celebrity tattoo artist Ami James, of Miami Ink, who offered to add flame-broiled grill marks to their Big Mac tattoos. Four took him up on the offer.

"The original idea came from an insight we had searching the Internet, when we realized there was this trend of people posting pictures of their Big Mac tattoos," Rodrigo Grau, creative vp at David São Paulo, told Adweek by email. "We sensed that it was a great opportunity to challenge these people to try the Big King."

In the video, we watch the five global Mickey D's habitués—from Taiwan, Italy, Brazil, the U.S. and Spain—show off their tattoos and then receive mysterious invitations from Burger King. They fly to Brazil, where they taste the new sandwich and love it. "That's flame-grilled right there," says the American admiringly, and sounding suspiciously like a pitchman. But Grau insists all the tasters, and their reactions, are authentic.

"Our assumption from the very beginning of this project was that all the participants should be real people, as we needed to challenge their passion—which wouldn't have worked with actors," said Grau. "Until we finished filming, we couldn't predict what would happen. One of the possibilities was ending up with none of the five participants willing to change their tattoos."

(The only one who didn't was the American flame-grilling enthusiast; he and his brother sport matching tattoos, and, as he tells James apologetically, he wouldn't change it "for anything in the world.")

Since the video's launch last Thursday, it has garnered 10 million views and thousands of social-media shares, Grau said. In-store activations begin this week, centered on the idea of people being tattooed. "Change always leaves a mark," is the tagline.

"Leaving old habits behind can sometimes bring us pleasant surprised in life, and that's what we wanted to convey in this Big King campaign," Ariel Grunkraut, marketing director for Burger King in Brazil, said in a statement. "We found out that people are indeed open to change, and they often find that it can bring both something positive and surprising."

CREDITS

Agency: DAVID São Paulo
Client: Burger King Brasil
Creative VP: Rodrigo Grau
Creative Director: Edgard Gianesi
Art Directors: Diego Barboza, Jean Zamprogno, Bruno Luglio
Copywriters: João Gandara, Fernando Pellizzaro, Ivan Guerra
Executive Producer: Mariane Goebel
Producer: Renata Neumann
Head of Planning: Fernando Ribeiro
Planning Director: Luiz Arruda
Planning Supervisor: André Gonçalves
Account Director: Carol Vieira
Account Supervisor: Natalia Rakowitsch
Account Executive: Natalie Bursztyn
Account Assistant: Fernanda Feldmann

CLIENT
SVP Global Brand Management: Fernando Machado
Marketing Director: Ariel Grunkraut
Marketing Manager: Kellen Silverio
Marketing Coordinator: Thais Nascimento
Marketing Analyst: Lariane Duarte

PRODUCTION
Production Company: Crane.TV
Executive Producer: Constantin Bjerke

Director: Vandalo
Director of Photography: Daniel Venosa
Head of Brand Solutions:  Pernille Raven
Producer: Julieta Biasotti
International Account Manager: Cecilia Temke
Editorial and Online: Cutu Benedict
Producer São Paulo: Juliana Pacheco
Producer Milano: Iacopo Carapelli
Producer Madrid: Beatriz Collado

Producer Taiwan: Lucie Wang
Producer Brasília: Jetro Ositeky
Producer Los Angeles: Felix Reyes
Music and Audio Post: Antfood
Account: Lou Schmidt / Sean McGovern
Audio Producers: Pedro Botsaris / Lou Schmidt / Wilson Brown
Food Stylist: Paula Rainho

Updated packaging design seems to be the latest trend among fast-food chains—McDonald's and KFC recently refreshed theirs—and earlier this month Burger King tapped Turner Duckworth's London office for a revamp of its own. 

The new packaging is part of an overall brand strategy for Burger King, which is trying to position itself more uniformly on a global scale, according to a spokeswoman for the brand. 

"For decades, Burger King restaurants have been recognized globally as a leading, iconic brand," said the spokeswoman. "With more than 14,000 restaurants in over 100 countries, we have been working to increase brand consistency globally."

While the burger chain's logo will remain the same, the new design includes retooled cups, wrappers, bags and containers. The in-store experience is also getting an update. 

"This work started with refining our global brand positioning to ensure that our entire guest experience is driven by one cohesive brand," said the spokeswoman. "The rollout of our new global packaging is the latest evolution of this positioning, which celebrates our great-tasting food that is prepared-to-order and celebrates our desire to deliver an authentic and fun experience for all guests." 

It is unclear what the next steps will be in that rollout. 

"Over time, you will continue to see our refined brand identity come to life in new and exciting ways," said the spokeswoman. 

Check out the redesign below: 

Could the Burger Wars see peace in our times? Probably not, despite Burger King's best efforts at calling a temporary truce (while cooking up publicity).

Burger King today purchased a full-page ad in both The New York Times and the Chicago Tribune, asking McDonald's to partner with its longtime rival to create the McWhopper in honor of the upcoming Peace Day.

But don't get too excited about the idea of a combined Big Mac and Whopper just yet—McDonald's CEO Steve Easterbrook turned down the offer.

According to Burger King's proposal, the two burger chains would combine forces on Sept. 21, Peace Day, to create the McWhopper, and proceeds would have gone to the Peace One Day charity. Given McDonald's headquarters in Chicago and Burger King's base in Miami, the McWhopper would be sold midway, in Atlanta.  Alas, McDonald's quickly turned down Burger King's offer in a Facebook post, though the brand did note that it was for a "good cause" and a "great idea."

"We love the intention but think our two brands could do something bigger to make a difference," said Easterbrook. "We commit to raise awareness worldwide, perhaps you'll join us in a meaningful global effort?"

Easterbrook cheekily added, "P.S. A simple phone call will do next time." 

The stunt was a combined effort from Burger King's agencies including Y&R in New Zealand, Code & Theory, Alison Brod Public Relations, The David Agency, Rock Orange, Turner Duckworth and Horizon. 

As a wise Jeff Goldblum once put it, we were so busy wondering if we could, we didn't ask if we should.

Well I'm here to tell you: No. No we should not.

Burger King deserves credit for its masterful PR move this morning of running full-page newspaper ads offering to partner with mega-rival McDonald's on a McWhopper, created in celebration of Peace Day.

This beefy olive branch was described as "the tastiest bits of your Big Mac and our Whopper, united in one delicious, peace-loving burger."

Sadly, the world will never know what such a combination might have looked or tasted like, because McDonald's quickly declined the invitation. 

But it was too late for those of us at Adweek, who were already obsessing over this mythological beast of a burger.

As for me, I'm a man of action. So I texted an accomplice, drove to Burger King and then headed across the street to McDonald's. Bags in hand, we settled in at a nearby park and commenced with our foray into forbidden science.

Part 1: What we bought

For fairness, I matched up the Big Mac with the Double Whopper with Cheese. We got two of each, along with some Chicken Fries and McDonald's fries, which are normally the only things I'd buy at either chain.

Finally, we were ready to unite them in body and spirit.

Part 2: How we assembled the meaty manticores

Here's the challenge I put to myself and my laudably accommodating friend, Tanya:

"It's like when two people in their 30s get married. They both have a lot of stuff, so you have to decide what gets kept and what gets tossed when they move in together. So what survives the Big Mac-Whopper marriage?"

My version:

Top bun: Whopper
Top meat: Whopper
Middle bun: Big Mac
Bottom meat: Whopper
Bonus meat: Big Mac
Bottom bun: Whopper

Tanya's Version:

Top bun: Big Mac 
Top meat: Whopper
Middle bun: The top bun from a Whopper
Bottom meat: Big Mac
Bottom bun: Big Mac

Part 3: How they tasted

Mine: Like way too much low-grade beef. Admittedly, I included a combined total of three patties, so the meat-to-not-meat ratio was regrettable. Also, with so much mayo slathered on the Whopper bun and special sauce on the Big Mac components, the texture was rather disturbingly ... creamy. I ate half of it and then it basically just disintegrated into primordial muck.

Tanya's: "The first thing you taste is the Whopper. The Whopper's larger, and has more of a distinct taste regardless. No matter what, you just taste the Whopper." So there you go, the McWhopper is basically just an overly expensive and logistically challenging-to-assemble Whopper.

Part 4: Our recommendation for those trying this at home

Well, for one: Don't.

Nothing about this experiment felt worthwhile, other than the fact it was a good excuse to catch up with a friend on a lovely late-summer day. If the weather is crappy and you hate being around other people, I certainly don't recommend trying this.

But if you must, we recommend Tanya's approach:

Top bun: Big Mac
Top meat: Whopper
Middle bun: Whopper top bun
Bottom meat: Big Mac
Bottom bun: Big Mac

Part 5: Bonus creation - Chick 'n' Fries

Now this was a mashup we could get behind:

For something proposed as a peace offering, this McWhopper idea from Burger King sure seems to be escalating the burger wars.

Last night, Denny's blitzed its Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts with the proposal to partner with Burger King on creating "a Slampper© or a Whammper© or a Whoppaslamus-rex© or something." 

The diner chain is volunteering as tribute in these hunger games to take the place of McDonald's, which meekishly declined Burger King's invitation this week to create a McWhopper in honor of Peace Day.

hey @burgerking how about a Slampper© or a Whammper© or a Whoppaslamus-rex© or something? pic.twitter.com/zWHXfgIPYV

— Denny's (@DennysDiner) August 27, 2015

(As of this morning, Burger King hadn't responded, but you can bet the socially irrepressible chain has something in the works.)

As we at AdFreak discovered by assembling our own McWhopper, the not-so-subtle goal of Burger King's proposal likely was to show how much larger and generally dominant the Whopper is when paired alongside a Big Mac. 

Denny's seems to be supplanting that strategy by offering to put its even beefier burgers into the mix, potentially dwarfing the Whopper's flavor profile. Denny's fans, like this one on Facebook, don't seem to think they'd get much out of the deal: "C'mon Denny's ... don't stoop to their level. Ever since you changed your burgers a couple of years ago, Denny's is light years ahead of any of the junk Burger King or McDonald's sells!"

P.S.: Boss, please don't make me go create and try this myself. I promised my kids I'd live to see them graduate middle school.

Burger King may not have been able to lure its biggest rival into a charity-minded collaboration, but four other chains have stepped in to fill the McWhopper void.

Denny's may be the largest and best-known of the lot, but the fast-casual chain will be joined by Krystal (a Southern chain similar to White Castle), Wayback Burgers and Giraffas (a Brazilian chain with 10 Florida locations) in offering Peace Day co-branded burgers on Sept. 21.

Here's the note Burger King posted to its Tumblr:

Since each of these partnership-minded chains had already proposed the idea to Burger King, it's safe to say they're on board:

we're in! let's hash it out over some hash browns. https://t.co/tYjlrILUNw

— Denny's (@DennysDiner) September 1, 2015

Here are the original tweets from each chain that volunteered:

We have a #SteamyProposal for @BurgerKing. A new way to #SettleTheBeef for #PeaceDay. Accept, your royal Burger-ness? pic.twitter.com/ZhppAGsKqC

— Krystal (@Krystal) August 26, 2015

.@BurgerKing, we won't leave you hanging. #McWhopper#WhipleWhiple#SettleTheBeefpic.twitter.com/wCFiYuGOPO

— Wayback Burgers (@waybackburgers) August 26, 2015

Hey @BurgerKing, let's settle this Brazilian style. #PeaceDay#McWhopperProposalpic.twitter.com/gKpAsIIjhV

— Giraffas USA (@GiraffasUSA) August 27, 2015

hey @burgerking how about a Slampper© or a Whammper© or a Whoppaslamus-rex© or something? pic.twitter.com/zWHXfgIPYV

— Denny's (@DennysDiner) August 27, 2015