Is Burger King Back on The Throne

It seems the "King" is making a comeback—Burger King that is—with its hilarious series of commercials filmed last November at a Midwestern Burger King.

The setup goes like this. Customers are told that Burger Kings's famous 'Whopper' has been discontinued due to its over popularity. Hidden cameras film the customer's reaction to their beloved hamburger’s demise. Needless to say, most customers where bewildered to downright dumbfounded at the fact their favorite fast-food hamburger was no longer offered.

Beyond the hilarious reactions from unsuspecting customers, the marketing behind it is genius, getting customers to proclaim their loyalty to Burger King’s product over their archrival McDonalds.

America's love for the hamburger dates back more than one-hundred years and has its origins from German immigrants. Now it has become an American icon, and like fine wine, people are finicky about its taste and even how it’s served to them. Who would've thought that a cooked pattie of ground beef would cause such emotional trauma to a hungry patron.

Video Source: YouTube

Hyundai Ask Are You Committed

Back in September Hyundai began a new marketing campaign called
"Think About It". The campaign was conceived by Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, a marketing agency Hyundai recently tapped to redevelop their image in the mind of American customers. In Hyundai's press release, VP of marketing Joel Ewanick states, "Our new 'Think About It' advertising campaign is designed to be thought provoking."



















After watching several of the aired commercials and reading ads placed in a few popular car magazines, I can affirm that the ads definitely have unearthed some latent thoughts I've had for years. One specific commercial, "where is the commitment," links our society's obsession with instant gratification to problems with commitment—something I think is a dying attribute in the American mind.

In this commercial it talks about physical appearance, our jobs, and our relationships as things we discard when we tire of them, regardless of our original commitment. The question is have we become so recklessly cavalier in light of the instant gratification modern society provides us?

As thought provoking as Hyundai's commercial may be, it can only provide a spark for self-examination of one’s commitments in life. How can we take the momentum of this marketing piece to a deeper personal level, leading us all towards change?

A starting point would be commitments close cousin—integrity.