The best story of the day is the taste test campaign being employed by Burger King that has the blogosphere up in arms.
The Wall Street Journal reports on the "Whopper Virgins" campaign:
Next week, Burger King kicks off a major ad campaign that involves a unique twist on the tried-and-true marketing technique of taste testing. The campaign is already generating controversy.
The No. 2 burger maker in the U.S. asked farmers in the Transylvania region of Romania, the Hmong tribe of Thailand, and other folks in far-flung places to sample its Whopper alongside McDonald's Big Mac and declare the winner.
One ad, set to begin airing Monday, features images of villagers in traditional garb choosing the Whopper over the Big Mac. A Transylvanian woman, an Inuit tribesman from the Icelandic tundra and others point and, in their native tongues, declare their preference for Burger King's flagship product.
"We traveled to find the most isolated people in the world...the world's purest taste test," a voiceover says.
Burger King says it was trying to find "Whopper Virgins," which is also the name of its campaign. "We wanted to see how the Whopper would perform in a world that didn't have ad or marketing awareness or any sentimental attachments" to either brand, says Russ Klein, president of global marketing, strategy and innovation at Burger King Holdings.
Yet, the article adds, some of the reviews online are a little critical:
A headline on the blog Stereohyped read: "Burger King Storms Innocent Villages to Plunder 'Virgins.' "
Another blogger, on Walletpop, wrote: "What might irk people is the concept that Burger King is taking its fat-laden fast food to people who aren't used to this stuff in their diets, who aren't usually subject to our crass commercials, and who probably don't really care too much."
Burger King says it approached the project with "extreme care."
You can read the full story by clicking here
I'm trying to picture that first meeting between representatives of this western corporation and the remote subjects of the test. I'm seeing Charles Grodin and Jeff Bridges encountering King Kong's Skull Island residents.
"Not Kong, Whopper!"
You can see the Burger King "Whopper Virgins" campaign by clicking here
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