About Me
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A History of the Burger King:
An animated Burger King circa 1970
The royal mascot of the Burger King fast food franchise that has appeared in print and TV spots since the early 1970's. The bearded figure of Burger King generally is tall, wears a bejeweled crown, and sports a burgundy and gold robe trimmed with white fur collar. Some early versions of the king were short and clean-shaven. As a marketing gimmick, Burger King hired actors to portray the king and appear around the country performing magic tricks in the parking lot outside of local BK franchises.
Mike Randall as the Burger King in 1978
Entertainer Mike Randall was one of twenty "Kings" hired and trained by the Burger King Corporation. Magicians Mark Wilson and Tony Hassini taught the aspiring burger kings their magical tricks.
The latest version of the Burger King
The latest reincarnation of the Burger King mascot appeared in the 2004 "Wake Up With The King" campaign created by the Miami-based advertising agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky. The focus of this campaign were two sandwiches: the Double Croissan'wich with egg and meat and cheese, and the Enormous Omelet Sandwich (one sausage patty, two eggs, two American cheese slices and three strips of bacon on a bun with 47 grams of fat).
For these ads, an actor dressed in regal splendor and wearing a gargantuan-sized plastic head of the Burger King character (that never spoke) mysteriously shows up at the home of an average, all-American guy bearing gifts, namely the new Burger King products.
In one spot, the guy wakes up in bed, turns over and is confronted with the Burger King character lying beside him. Seemingly unperturbed (however, the viewers found it kind of creepy) the King offers the man a sandwich which he eats and enjoys. At the end of the spot, the King puts his hand on the guys knee and again the viewers found that kind of creepy.
In another spot, a guy is awakened to the sound of his dog barking loudly. He walks downstairs and sees his dog scratching at the door. He opens the door, looks outside, and there, in the middle of his yard, stands the Burger King (like Hannibal Lector in the middle of his cage). For a quick moment, the man turns his head and suddenly the King has traversed some 50 feet in a matter of a second. Now most people would have jumped back in horror, but the sleepy-eyed guy happily accepts an offering of a breakfast sandwich. The commercial ends with the Burger King on the floor being licked by the dog as the guy, breakfast sandwich in hand, is laughing.
Throughout these commercials, a voice over (which sounds like Tommy Chong of "Cheech and Chong") narrates lines like "New! The Double Croissan'wich... Egg and Meat and Cheese... Meat and Cheese... That's right, the Double Croissan'wich..." or "New! The Western Omlette Croissan'wich..." "Hello Egg", "Hello Cheese", " Hello Meat", and Hi Onion" "Wake up... with the King!".
In more recent commercial for the new late night hours at Burger King, a guy gets into his car, starts it up and proceeds to drive away. As he looks into his rear view mirror, he sees... THE BURGER KING! Shocked, he slams on his brakes, and the car comes to a screeching halt. He turns around and gives a bewildered look as the King offers him a Whopper sandwich on a platter. The confused driver accepts the sandwich and takes a bite. Cut to a red convertible at a stop light with three teenaged girls inside. They turn their heads to their right and are greeted by the guy, now smiling, and the Burger King in the back seat giving them the index finger pointing/thumbs up gesture. The same voice over as the earlier commercials states "BK.. now open to Midnight... or later" "Up late... with the King!"
Commenting on the stalking-like behavior of the Burger King character, one Internet chat forum contributor stated "If I opened my blinds, and someone was standing there looking at me, I would pee my pants, then scream, then go call 911, even if they did want to give me a free sandwich".
Burger King Head Helium Tank Fixture
The idea for the over-sized plastic head on the Burger King character was inspired by a plastic fixture (23" tall with a diameter of 14") created to sit atop a tank of helium, the type used to fill party balloons. The mouth on the king's head had a small hole to inflate the balloons. The unit looked like a large Pez dispenser. Apparently, one day, an ad exec for the campaign saw one of these old plastic heads while browsing eBay and incorporated the fixture idea into the latest Burger King campaign - after a few changes made by a Hollywood special effects expert.
Burger King
(hands glowing with magical powers)
Sir Shakes-A-Lot
The Burger Thing
The Wizard of Fries
Duke of Doubt
Earlier in the Burger King franchise history, their was a Burger King Kingdom (a la "McDonaldLand"). It was populated with a number of interesting characters (phased out in the 1980s) that included the Burger King, of course; Sir Shakes-A-Lot (who wore a milkshake container for a hat and constantly craved milkshakes to drink); The Burger Thing (a living hamburger mounted in a picture frame who liked to sing); The Wizard of Fries (a robot with a head filled with French fries); and the Duke Of Doubt (a villainous guy who doubted the Burger King's magical abilities - "That's impossible to do!"). Once, seeing that the Burger King could create food from thin air, the Duke of Doubt asks "Make me a shake." The King happily obliges by turning the Duke into a giant milkshake. The ad campaign slogan was "Magic makes it special when your with Burger King".
TRIVIA NOTE: In 1954, James McLamore and David Edgerton opened the first Burger King restaurant stand (Burger King of Miami) at 3090 NW 36th Street in Miami. They initially sold 18 cent broiled hamburgers and milkshakes. The Whopper, which appears in 1957, would sell for 37 cents. In 1958, the "Burger King, Home of the WHOPPER" campaign was inaugurated. In 1974, the "HAVE IT YOUR WAY" campaign was created by the BBDO advertising agency.
In 1983, Salad Bars were introduced (but later phased out). The Croissan'wich was introduced in 1985. In 1998, the company opened its 10,000th location in Sydney, Australia. As of 2005, it has 11,220 restaurants in 61 countries.
Apparently inspired by the Burger King campaign, the Quaker Oats Company created a similar campaign in 2005 that featured a painted statue of the Quaker Oats mascot. It appeared in various sites around the country and held out a tray filled with Quaker Oats goodies for passers-by. I guess, imitation surely is the sincerest form of flattery.
