I have been a fan of commercials for as long as I’ve been watching television. And ever since I have been working on the web I have been a big fan of commercials that direct users to a web-based experience. Nowwhat.com, or Taco Bells’ ‘fourthmeal.com’ are good examples. I am not in the market for insurance, or a late-nite taco meal, but the commercials did their job; I went to the site and checked out the experience.

\r\nWhile the amount of brand reinforcement had a negligible effect on me, I did like the sites. They were providing a fun and educational way to get to know more about their products. Cool. I get it.

Then I saw the commercial for WhopperFreakout.com. The commercial points out that people will ‘freak out’ if Burger King stopped selling the whopper. Why would they stop selling the whopper, you ask. It is, after all, the ‘Home of the Whopper’. It made me ask the same question. And while I didn’t exactly “freak out�, it did, I suppose, do what the commercial intended for me to do - make me think about the whopper sandwich. The people on ‘Whopper Freakout� did exactly what the commercial implies though. They freaked out! And it’s a pretty funny video… and they all seemed to ask the same question as I did. Why would you not have the Whopper when that is, basically, your brand. Again, that’s what they want to make us think about. The strength of the Whopper. It’s an unusual but effective way to get people to think about something they know so well they might take it for granted. And it has that viral quality BK’s ad team is famous for - not only in the online world of sharing the video, but in people ‘buzzing’ about BK’s marketing technique.

While the amount of brand reinforcement had a negligible effect on me, I did like the sites. They were providing a fun and educational way to get to know more about their products. Cool. I get it.

posted by M. Nedell 12-19-07