LOVING "IT"

Short List
TitleLOVING "IT"
BrandBURGER KING DEUTSCHLAND GMBH
Product/ServiceBURGER KING
Category B04. Use of Ambient Media: Large Scale
Entrant GRABARZ & PARTNER Hamburg, GERMANY
Idea Creation GRABARZ & PARTNER Hamburg, GERMANY
Media Placement VIZEUM DEUTSCHLAND Wiesbaden, GERMANY
PR EMANATE München, GERMANY
Production RABBICORN FILMS Hamburg, GERMANY
Production 2 SLAUGHTERHOUSE VISUAL MANUFACTURING Hamburg, GERMANY
Production 3 YESSIAN MUSIC Hamburg, GERMANY
Additional Company BURGER KING DEUTSCHLAND GMBH Hannover, GERMANY
Additional Company 2 SETUP GMBH München, GERMANY
Credits
Name Company Position
Ralf Heuel Grabarz & Partner Chief Creative Officer
Diana Sukopp Grabarz & Partner Creative Group Head
Tobias Ahrens Grabarz & Partner Creative Group Head
Thomas Fritze Grabarz & Partner Creative Director
Stefan Geschke Grabarz & Partner Creative Director
Jakob Eckstein Grabarz & Partner Creative Director
Matthias Preuss Grabarz & Partner Creative Director
Christian El Asmar Grabarz & Partner Art Director
Tim Bozek Grabarz & Partner Copywriter
Benedikt Lemsky Grabarz & Partner Account Manager
Sarvin Ejtehadi Grabarz & Partner Account Manager
Tim Mangels Grabarz & Partner Account Manager
Jörg Nagel Grabarz & Partner Production
Saskia Hinz Grabarz & Partner Agency Producer
Iwo Zakowski Burger King Deutschland GmbH Head of Marketing Communications
Jacqueline Burdet Burger King Deutschland GmbH Manager Marketing Communications
Frederike Carolin Weiss Burger King Deutschland GmbH Director Communications
Fernando Machado Burger King Deutschland GmbH Global Brand Manager
Vizeum Deutschland GmbH Vizeum Deutschland GmbH PR Agency
RABBICORN Films GmbH RABBICORN Films GmbH Film Production
SLGH Slaughterhouse Visual Manufactoring GmbH, Hamburg SLGH Slaughterhouse Visual Manufactoring GmbH, Hamburg Post Production
emanate GmbH emanate GmbH PR Agency
setup GmbH setup GmbH Communication Agency
Yessian Music GmbH Yessian Music GmbH Music

The Campaign

When we realized that the most famous horror clown of all time – Pennywise from Stephen King’s “IT” – will return to cinemas in September 2017, we saw an opportunity. Because McDonald´s mascot Ronald happens to be a clown as well. So we used the hype around the horror movie of the year to spread a direct message. A message that came at a time when everyone in the theatre was sure to hate clowns so much no one would disagree. The hijacking of the movie was done with two powerful spotlights that added a tagline at the end of the film. Turning “IT” into BURGER KING’s longest direct ad ever.

Creative Execution

On the evening of the German pre-premiere of Stephen King’s horror classic “IT”, we let the clown spread fear and horror until the audience had enough. Right when the credits were about to roll, we used two powerful spotlights to show our message to the target group. Warning them about creepy clowns and thereby indirectly about our biggest competitor without naming them once. But we didn’t stop there. When the audience left the theatre we were waiting to make them a direct offer they couldn’t refuse – by giving away a balloon that turned directly into a promotional invitation for a free whopper in every BURGER KING branch nearby to dine with the king.

Results

People were loving "IT" and our longest direct ad for BURGER KING ever. The stunt managed to generate a worldwide response. Within just 72 hours, it achieved over 900 million impressions and generated press coverage on 5 continents, earning 10 million Euros in media value. On social media, the online film earned over 12 million impressions making it BURGER KING Germany’s most liked, shared and commented direct ad to date.

Always in second place, BURGER KING is constantly looking for innovative ways to win their rivals’ customers for themselves. As BURGER KING is placed nearby cinemas in Germany but doesn’t invest much into cinema media, they were looking for new ways of talking to their target group (male, 18-30 years). With our LOVING “IT” direct ad we made a targeted approach in a relevant setting at the right time, giving potential customers a clear Call-to-Action to dine with the King. Establishing BURGER KING as the perfect choice for anybody who’s hungry for a quick burger. The results exceeded expectations.

We wanted to use a cost efficient direct ad that calls on our male, horror- and burger-loving target group to push back against our main competitor and their iconic clown. And we wanted to keep it in BURGER KING’s usual bold tone. The perfect opportunity: The release of “IT”, a horror movie that equaled a pop culture event this year and was highly anticipated by our target audience.