29 May 2007

Burger King Appeals Advertising Standards Authority Decision

Burger King will appeal the Advertising Standards Authority decision which has caused two of its highly popular television advertisements to be withdrawn.

Burger King's popular Texas Bacon Double Whopper and BK Chicken BLT television commercials have been withdrawn following a ruling that they breach the Advertising Codes of Practice, despite both ads having received pre-approval from the Television Commercial Approvals Bureau before launch.

Burger King Marketing Manager Megan Denize says, "It's very disappointing that the commercials have been withdrawn given that they were both reviewed and approved during the production process."

Burger King has engaged an independent research company to track responses to the ads for the past seven months. The results from more than 700 consumers (aged 15 - 49) demonstrate a majority of them either like or love the commercials. Ms Denize says, "We believe this is a much better indicator of community reaction than the small number of complaints received by the Advertising Standards Complaints Board.

"Burger King has never intended to offend. The ads are a light-hearted reflection of the cheeky nature of the Burger King brand. Burger King is a brand that prides itself on not taking itself too seriously. Our customers value not only our great tasting food but also our fun attitude.

"We are receiving a steady stream of emails from consumers who are outraged that the ads have been withdrawn and questioning why a very small section of the community can dictate what the rest of the nation is allowed to view on television. It is worth noting that we carefully selected the programmes during which the ads ran to ensure they were appropriate to the content of the ads."

Ms Denize says, "The production team for these commercials was largely female, and as such we were very mindful of the need to portray the BK Girls in an appropriate manner. For this reason we made sure that our girls were not filmed in a gratuitous way, and that they were dressed in beachwear that an average Kiwi woman would feel comfortable in.

"We continue to stand by the ads as a light-hearted, humorous response to what many in the community view as political correctness gone mad."

ENDS