LONELIEST PERSON ON VALENTINE'S DAY

Burger King Corporation does it again! This time, it is Burger King India that launches a video for Valentine's Day, telling people that the loneliest person on this planet is none other than the clown of McDonald's - Ronald McDonald. 

The video then encourages people to take a selfie with Ronald, upload it by tagging Burger King India and then come to a #BurgerKing outlet to get a free #whopper.

Usually, I am not a big fan of comparative or competitive #advertising as you tend to contribute to the other brand's salience without them spending any money.

However, in this case it works because:

1. It is not new for Burger King to troll McDonald's. They have been doing it across their markets for quite some time now. It is part of their style that resonates with its audience. 

2. The campaign gets lot of earned media and social media currency to the brand by people posting pictures and tagging Burger King handle. 

3. To get a free whopper, people would visit a Burger King cafe. Usually, they wouldn't go alone or would not just eat a Whopper. So in both scenarios, this helps in increasing the footfalls as well as the sales of the cafes, which is what every piece of advertising is supposed to do. 

BURGER KING MELTDOWN

Starting today, Burger King has launched a sustainability initiative 'The Meltdown' by getting rid of plastic toys from all its junior meals in UK. 

This is a step towards reducing #plastic and driving the conversation around sustainable solutions. This move will help in saving 320 tonnes of plastic each year. It doesn't stop there. There is more:

• Customers are invited to donate their plastic toys, whether from #BurgerKing or anywhere else ;) into the amnesty bins put up across their 500 restaurants.
• On dropping a toy and buying a full meal, a kids meal will be given free along with Meltdown stickers and a Meltdown crown.
• Recycled materials will be used to create a giant toy – an oversized jeep with a driving bunny 'Beep Beep' melting. This will be put up on the streets of London for all to witness. 

• They are tagging McDonald's on social media platforms and continuing with their banter, asking them to come and donate their toys too. 

This is yet another marketing coup by their CMO - Fernando Merchado and his team, who have been doing phenomenal work on the brand. Love the video - it is fun, cheeky and drives the message loud and clear!

HAPPY MEAL VS. UNHAPPY MEAL

The rivalry and battle between McDonald's and Burger King is becoming quite similar to the cola wars of Coca Cola and Pepsi few years back. Everyone knows about the Happy Meals from McDonald's that have been there in existence for years! 

Now, as a challenger brand, #BurgerKing had to do something to shift the conversation to its own combo meals. Therefore, a few months back, they announced a range of 'Unhappy Meals' and called it Real Meals. These meals were launched in collaboration with Mental Health America to raise awareness for Mental Health Month of May. This was built on the insight that no one is happy all the time. That’s the message Burger King is trying to communicate with these meals. The “Real Meals” include the Blue Meal (feeling blue), Salty Meal, Yaaas Meal (excited), Pissed Meal and DGAF (Don’t Give a F---) Meal to celebrate "being yourself and feeling however you want to feel."

They launched these meals in special boxes and also did a campaign called #FeelYourWay, which you can watch on the YouTube link below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjxRUEA0Tdo&t=14s

hashtag#QSR #marketing #kunalviews #challengerbrands #branding #insight #consumer #McDonalds #food #colawars