Brand rivalries give us very interesting takes on how a brand can advertise itself by talking about the other. While there have been many iconic rivalries but Burger King vs McDonald’s is the one that we love the most and this is because of the smart ways these brands come up.
The world celebrated the spooky festival of Halloween on 31st October 2020. With the day approaching, many brands jumped in to celebrate their version of Halloween and the internet was full of spooky posts.
Of all the brands, Burger King did not miss this chance to take a dig at their arch-rivals, McDonald’s. Burger King in Scandinavia gave a twist to the famous horror folklore of ‘Bloody Mary’.
In the video campaign shared by the brand, ‘Bloody Mary’ was replaced with ‘Cancelled Clown’ and when said thrice Ronald McDonald’s creepy version appeared in the mirror.
Burger King shared a 45-second video which is the footage of a security camera at a BK restaurant. In the footage, we see customers walk into the bathroom and record themselves in front of the mirror while chanting “cancelled clown” three times. On the third count, the lights go off and a message appears on the screen, “Do you dare to make him appear?”
At the end of the video, you can see two bright red eyes and what seems to be the reflection of a clown.
For all of you wondering how did Burger King make this possible, Swedish agency Ingo Stockholm installed new voice-recognition software in Burger King toilets, which is trained to listen out for the phrase ‘cancelled clown’. If uttered three times, the lights of the toilet dim down hauntingly, and an eerie Ronald McDonald appears in the mirror via special visual effects applied to a two-way ‘smart mirror.
Burger King also shared a post promoting the same concept on Instagram.
The bitter-sweet rivalry between the two brands is not new. For years both the brands have been continuing their banter and has worked wonders as far as the marketing strategy goes.
Also Read: Ford Vs Ferrari: How A Failed Business Deal Lead To The Most Iconic Brand Rivalry
