Burger King takes a stab at going Viral

In 2004, Burger King created a campaign for its TenderCrisp sandwich line that was soon to become viral. The theme of this unconventional campaign was centered around a Subservient Chicken, a life-sized chicken who obeys hundreds of commands such as "riverdance", "fly", "relax" and "walk like an Egyptian" when prompted. A great strategy on Burger King's behalf by creating a fun and interactive way to advertise to the public over the internet, a medium whose popularity
has soared in popularity. Additionally, the Subservient Chicken campaign reinforces Burger King's existing slogan "have it your way", allowing consumers to be in control.

Although ridiculous in theory, Burger King has created and advertisement in the form of something new and wildly entertaining. And it worked. On the day following its launch, the Subservient Chicken website attained more than one million hits ¹, followed by 15 million hits ² in its first five days. Now that's a successful viral marketing campaign if I've ever seen one!

Why did a silly man in a chicken suit attract this much attention, you may ask? I'll break down my take on it some of the major success factors. The Subservient Chicken campaign:

1. is new and creative
2. is funny and entertaining
   
3. lets consumers be in control and seems less like direct advertising (as commercials are)
   
4. facilitates sharing and spreading by implementing a "tell a friend" link

All in all, a great strategy that helped spread the word about Burger King's TenderCrip sandwiches in a unique way.

Source(s):
¹ O'leary, N. (2005) "A New Game," Adweek vol.46, no.1, pp.4-6.
² http://wwwawards.cpbgroup.com/awards/subservientchicken.html