Burger King: Whopperettes
Burger King wanted a Super Bowl XL campaign from Crispin Porter + Bogusky that vividly showcased their "Have It Your Way" customization promise. The brand needed to stand out and entertain a broad audience, reinforcing their unique selling proposition against competitors. The challenge was to communicate personalization memorably and playfully, driving engagement and reinforcing brand preference during a high-stakes advertising event.
Creative Idea
Burger King formed the Whopperettes, a musical troupe of ingredients, to sing about their "Have It Your Way" customization.
Burger King created the Whopperettes, a musical performance troupe dressed as Whopper ingredients, to playfully showcase their "Have It Your Way" customization promise during the Super Bowl. The campaign transformed burger toppings into singing characters who emphasize the brand's core message of personalized food orders in an entertaining, memorable musical format.
Couture Condiments and a Brazilian Carnival
92 Dancers in Rio
To achieve the grand scale of a Busby Berkeley musical, director Bryan Buckley and CP+B spent seven days filming in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The production tapped into the city’s elite pool of professional Carnival dancers, casting 92 performers to represent the various burger layers. Because most of the cast did not speak English, the creative team faced significant communication hurdles while directing the complex choreography. To elevate the aesthetic, Academy Award - winning costume designer Angus Strathie created "couture" versions of ingredients, including a high-fashion tomato and a "ketchup" performer who was literally shot out of a cannon.
The King and Brooke Burke
While the core musical was filmed in South America, the "star power" elements were added later in Los Angeles. Brooke Burke was cast as the lead "Whopperette" (the top bun), while the silent King mascot acted as the production's director. To build viral momentum before the Super Bowl XL kickoff, the agency leaked paparazzi-style photos to gossip blogs showing the King and Burke "dating" at Lakers games and on beaches, treating the plastic-masked mascot as a genuine A-list celebrity.
Polarizing the Super Bowl
The campaign was a massive reach play, hitting 90.7 million viewers, but it proved deeply polarizing. A Comscore survey revealed that while 25% of viewers loved the ad, 20% felt it damaged the brand - one of the highest "brand damage" scores in Super Bowl history. Despite the mixed reception and criticism regarding the "objectification" of the ingredients, Burger King saw a 9% year-on-year sales spike in the following quarter. The digital experience at whopperettes.com furthered engagement by allowing users to "build their own show" using the digital troupe.
Creative Strategy Deconstructed
Company
Burger King possessed a long-standing brand promise of 'Have It Your Way,' emphasizing order customization. They had a reputation for bold, disruptive advertising that leaned into the 'King' persona and high-concept entertainment.
Category
The category typically relied on literal food photography and price-led messaging. Most Super Bowl ads for competitors focused on product close-ups rather than transforming the ordering process into a theatrical event.
Customer
Super Bowl viewers were looking for high-production entertainment and spectacle rather than standard sales pitches. They valued the ability to be 'picky' with their food in an increasingly standardized world.
Culture
The mid-2000s saw a resurgence in kitschy, high-energy musical theater and a growing cultural appetite for mass-customization where individual preferences were celebrated over uniform consumer experiences.
Company
Burger King possessed a long-standing brand promise of 'Have It Your Way,' emphasizing order customization. They had a reputation for bold, disruptive advertising that leaned into the 'King' persona and high-concept entertainment.
Category
The category typically relied on literal food photography and price-led messaging. Most Super Bowl ads for competitors focused on product close-ups rather than transforming the ordering process into a theatrical event.
Strategy:
Turn boring product customization into a high-kicking musical spectacle to own the 'Have It Your Way' brand promise.
Customer
Super Bowl viewers were looking for high-production entertainment and spectacle rather than standard sales pitches. They valued the ability to be 'picky' with their food in an increasingly standardized world.
Culture
The mid-2000s saw a resurgence in kitschy, high-energy musical theater and a growing cultural appetite for mass-customization where individual preferences were celebrated over uniform consumer experiences.
Strategy:
Turn boring product customization into a high-kicking musical spectacle to own the 'Have It Your Way' brand promise.
Strategy Technique
Exaggerate to Reveal the Truth
Burger King exaggerated its 'Have It Your Way' customization promise by personifying ingredients as singing characters. This playful over-communication made the brand's core truth impossible to ignore.
Explore Technique
Creative Technique
Create Fantasy Worlds, People and Things
Burger King crafted a fantastical world where Whopper ingredients become singing characters. This ludicrous alternate reality vividly showcases the 'Have It Your Way' customization promise.
Explore Technique
Craft Breakdown
This campaign's craft is exceptional due to its bold and whimsical reimagining of food ingredients as a Broadway-style musical, driven by outstanding production and costume design.
The elaborate stage set, from the shimmering curtains and tiered platforms to the giant Whopper prop and marquee sign, creates an immersive and grand theatrical experience.
The creativity in transforming Whopper ingredients into unique, flamboyant, and instantly recognizable dancer costumes is remarkable, driving the central visual metaphor.
The original song is incredibly catchy, well-produced, and perfectly suited to the musical theater style, effectively delivering the brand message through engaging lyrics and melody.
The energetic and synchronized dance routines are expertly crafted, adding significant dynamism and visual appeal to the performance and reinforcing the ad's lively tone.
The campaign's magic truly comes from the synergistic blend of production design, costume design, music, and choreography, all working together to create a cohesive and memorable musical spectacle for Burger King.
