Advertisers have mixed reactions to what’s called ‘interruption marketing,’ but rub their hands in glee when it is referred to in the same sentence as ‘guerilla marketing.’
Ever heard of the bizarre ‘subservient chicken’ Web site? The following example involves the words ‘viral,’ ‘chicken’ and ‘fast food’ but it has nothing to do with indigestion.
Subservient Chicken is an intriguing Web site for Burger King. The advertising hot shop that created the idea, Crispin, Porter + Bogusky is known for unconventional tactics in brand communication. The site features a man dressed in a chicken costume pacing around red couch. A white bar below it prompts you to “get chicken just the way you like it. Type in your command here.” You can type in commands such as jump, dance, sit etc, and the very odd bird/man character obeys. (Don’t try anything rude, the poor chap crashes to the ground. OK, go ahead, do it!)
What’s going in here? The fast food chain says it is part of a campaign to reinforce BK’s “core equity.” This is code for saying they have brought back the old “have it your way” tagline that the previous ad agency made them run. The Wall Street Journal reported this week that the site had received some 15 to 20 million hits, even though only 20 people had been officially told of the site. In other words, the story had spread in true viral fashion, for absolutely no cost, and in a matter of weeks! I think the exercise is futile, and may have no effect on what really matters: selling more burgers. But you have to admit that 20:20,000,000 is not a bad formula!
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