No wonder. In the past eight years, the nation’s second biggest fast-food chain has lurched through seven unsuccessful ad campaigns from the anemic “Herb” to the MTV-inflected “BK TeeVee.” That’s one reason why-in addition to ferocious competition from the likes of Wendy’s and McDonald’s-its share of the $90 billion fastfood market is down 2.6 percent from its high of nearly 9 percent in 1986, according to restaurant consultants Technomic Inc.
Adamson hopes to start Burger King’s comeback this summer when he unveils the updated version of “Have it your way.” But the ads won’t just be a reprise of “Hold the pickle, hold the lettuce.” The new commercials will sound a theme that has been lost in recent campaigns: Burger King’s claim of superior taste. That means reminding junk-food fans that the burgers are flame-broiled, not fried like McDonald’s fare.
The simple strategy could be the chain’s missing ingredient. “Burger King was at its best when it was attacking McDonald’s,” says consultant Jack Trout, adding that recent campaigns failed because they were too conceptual. “What Herb said to people was that Burger King was a place for nerds,” an analyst says. The 1986 “This is a Burger King town” was so generic that the tag line easily could have referred to McDonald’s or even Pennzoil, quips ad critic Bob Garfield. The chain’s image was blurred further by the 1989 “Sometimes you gotta break the rules”; consumers never figured out which game they were supposed to be playing. The recent “BK TeeVee” was more focused-teen heartthrob Dan Cortese played to Generation Xers by screaming, “I love this place!"-but sent a mixed message by touting specials designed for families with young children.
Why has Burger King’s advertising been on a greased slide for so long? Experts blame management turmoil; the company, now owned by Grand Metropolitan, has burned through six CEOs since 1980. It became a nasty cycle: worried CEOs intimidated ad agencies, which resulted in ill-conceived campaigns that dragged down bosses. Adamson, who has been in charge for a mere 10 months, insists the revolving door has been swung shut by the return to Burger King’s roots. The question now: whether bringing the home of the Whopper back home will be enough to tempt the public back to the table.
