Burger King Is Moving From Bro-Humor To A Family-Friendly Look

Burger King has been having an identity crisis.

In the last few years, the fast food giant has shifted agencies and images (as well as internal leadership), trying to find the perfect match. After ending a seven-plus year relationship with Crispin Porter + Bogusky, which specialized in viral gold and frat-tastic campaigns that appealed to young men, in 2011, BK moved on to McGarryBowen (which embraced food porn), and then a long laundry list of other shops that created a series of disconnected, project-by-project campaigns.

But out of the roster system emerged one agency tasked with re-solidifying BK's image to the general public: Mother NY was named BK's new agency of record (AOR) at the end of February.

The 150-employee shop brews its own whiskey and has a huge bear (in a tiara, obviously) strategically positioned at the front door of its office, which is located a block from the Hudson in Hell's Kitchen. But the quirky shop's plan for BK is more traditional than its decor might imply.

"Let's just say that our vision we came up with is to show Burger King as a home again," said creative director Bill Moulton.

The day after Mother's AOR status was made public, Moulton and Mother co-founder Paul Malmstrom flew out to BK's headquarters in Miami incredibly early in the morning for 24 hours to make a game plan.

The two creatives called Business Insider from the HQ to explain how they got to where they are today.

The ghosts of Burger King past

There's no denying the popularity of Crispin Porter + Bogusky's work for BK during its seven-year relationship.

The Subservient Chicken, in which a dude dressed in a chicken suit with garters performed embarrassing stunts at the whim of users on a microsite, won 13 Clios and awards for being the "most infectious" viral campaign of 2005. The ad world is still talking and teaching about it.

More recently, CP+B moved on to create an embodiment of the actual Burger King, a plastic man the internet deemed "creepy" — which was fair considering that he had a propensity for climbing into random strangers' beds. Real tagline: "Wake up with the King."

While Malmstrom and Moulton acknowledge that BK "has done some pretty amazing work in the past," much of it would appeal mostly to one demographic. That can be problematic for a national brand which also wants to attract people who are uncomfortable spooning with the King.

Going just for young males can be "almost disastrous to brands," Malmstrom said.

BK signed McGarryBowen for its creative work in June 2011, and its first ad campaign consisted of long, lingering shots of avocados, tomatoes, beef, and other components of the Whopper.

Aka, food porn. (Not to be confused with Carl's Jr. and Hardee's ads which resemble porn-porn, featuring scantily clad women gyrating ... with a side of food.)

"We like all kinds of porn here," Malmstrom admitted, but noted that "there's a time and a place where that's appropriate."

Other shops on BK's rosters, including Mother and David, were also making ads for BK and then in October they were pitted against agencies including Grey and McCann Erickson.

"Are the agencies dancing with BK ignoring a series of red flags?" Adweek asked.

But after many months, Mother emerged victorious from the fray.

In an email to BI, Burger King explained, "This was always our plan. In anticipation of the largest menu overhaul in company history, BKC purposefully employed a “roster” approach with regard to our agency relationships. Based on the depth and breadth of that initiative, we wanted to ensure that we were tapping the best, unbridled thinking from the top creative resources in the industry. It was a calculated short-term move and it worked. In the end, Mother emerged as the agency that best understood the BURGER KING® brand."

So what is the new vision?

While Mother believes that there's a place for product shots and viral humor, Malmstrom and Moulton have a different and more classic goal.

"Our objective is to establish Burger King as a fun, inviting and familial place and our creative will focus on a cast of characters that will allow the brand to showcase its great food in the most exciting and interesting new ways," the two wrote in an email. "Through this family of characters, we'll truly establish Burger King as a ?home' where 'Taste is King.'"

To create this familiar vibe, Mother is establishing a cast of characters that will have recurring roles throughout Burger King's campaign. They will be led by the patriarch John the Manager, who Mother introduced months ago in earlier roster work.

While the others have yet to really be individually introduced, its first batch of new ads touting BK's new breakfast offerings shows a random smattering of characters including a mom/cheerleader, a hipster in a hat, a security guard, a swaddled kangaroo carrying park ranger, someone with a tuba, and a blue Muppet.

"It's a puppet not a Muppet," Malmstrom insists, laughing. "It's a big difference legally."

Moulton said that this assortment of characters is meant to appeal to all demographics and "that found family includes puppets."

The campaign will unveil "almost like a sitcom," Malmstrom said, which allows customers to fall in love with each new character as he or she is introduced. And, "all of that stands to contextualize the food."

Mother also hinted at social media projects, including individualized Pinterest boards, etc.

This isn't Mother's first rodeo

According to Malmstrom and Moulton, the shop turned down Burger King's offer for work 18 months ago due to other commitments and "the business seemed too big." But BK came back with the opportunity of roster work, which Moulton described as having many "ups and downs."

The two emailed that "essentially every brief became a pitch with other agencies. So it was tough, but also allowed us to stick to our guns on what we believed in creatively- win or lose." And it helped them get a feel for what BK actually wanted.

The Mary J. Blige incident

Of course, the most headline-inducing moment in BK and Mother's relationship occurred when the shop created a line of star-studded ads this summer.

While David Beckham ordering a smoothie and Jay Leno opting for a salad went over well, Mary J. Blige rhapsodizing over a crispy chicken sandwich caused major backlash for allegedly playing up racial stereotypes. Blige herself threw the brand under the bus and told Rolling Stone that the fallout "crushed" her. Burger King pulled the spot.

But when asked, the Mother creatives said that they never worried that that incident would impact the agency's ability to win the business.

"I don't think so at all really," Moulton said. In fact, he continued that working on that ad series was great and "that campaign actually brought us where we are now."

It was in the celebrity-infused ad series that Mother first introduced the character John the Manager, who is now the staple of the new campaign.

"I think that was an unfortunate moment for that spot."

A cultural fit?

While the two said they didn't worry about past internet fodder, or apparently even winning the pitch, Malmstrom noted that his main concern was "how is it going to effect our brand as Mother."

In an email, the two wrote, "Mother is a company where the quality of our output is closely tied to our culture. It if changes too fast, nobody is going to be happy — neither the Mother culture nor the client who bought it."

But after extensive talks, Mother and BK determined that even a big new business, which spent almost $240 million in media last year, according to Nielsen, isn't going to change the "Mother family."

In fact, "one thing we found is that they're extremely tightly knit and small," Malmstrom said of Burger King. (At least, its marketing team is.)

While the first ads for breakfast have rolled out, only time will tell if America accepts the new Burger King family.

Here's one of Mother's new Burger King ads: