BURGER KING GIVES BRONX RESIDENTS FREE UBER EATS THANKS TO THE "JOKER STAIRS"

Burger King strikes again with their rare, yet genius marketing tactics. Remember those stairs Joaquin Phoenix danced down last October in Joker? Well as you can imagine, that scene inspired countless passersby to do the same—and better yet, do it in costume! That specific staircase has become a necessary stop for fans and tourists alike. And the not-so-shocking result? Not-so-delighted residents.

But, Burger King stepped in with a mood booster. A free Whopper via Uber Eats to anyone who resides in the Bronx with code “KINGSTAIRS.” That’s right, anyone and anywhere in the Bronx gets BK free grub. Burger King released both a video and print ad to make it obvious it’s not about mocking Joker, it’s about BK’s ongoing clown jabs, thanks to McD’s good old Ronald McDonald.

BK kicked off their anti-clown trend in 2017 with Scary Clown Night and followed up in 2019 with a nod at making children’s birthday parties “clown-free.” It’s an effective approach, taking the prime proxy of McDonald’s clown Ronald McDonald, and connecting it to any clown-isms that exist in culture. First the Whopper of a Secret, and now this—what will Burger King whip up next?

Our opinion, crispier fries...

KFC ‘HACKS’ SPOTIFY PREMIUM FOR ITS FRESH KENTUCKY BURGER

KFC is launching their brand new Kentucky Burger in the Middle East, and to do so, they’ve linked up with three well-known Spotify artists: Flipperachi, Moh Flow, and Shabani. To promote the new grub, the artists turned their profile pages into “de facto KFC ads:" Kentucky Burgers have been splashed across their bios, covers photos, profile shots and more. The artists’ playlists even featured song titles that read as massive ad taglines, inviting users to try the sandwich.

To KFC, this seemed like a novel way to drive awareness, but to many users, it was as an invasion of privacy on a platform they’re paying to use. The project’s creative lead Fernando Montero said, “Our communication was placed in a way that the user had a choice to embrace or ignore it. Through the first-ever ad on Spotify Premium, we are proving that ads can coexist with the user experience without interrupting them.” Recent advertising stunts have followed a similar formula—take Planters, for example, breaching Twitter’s terms of service by astroturfing the love of Baby Nut memes to make their Super Bowl campaign appear more successful.

Ultimately, the lessons of these stunts are twofold: while a novel approach can drive outsized buzz and attention, tinkering with an organic user experience can also lead to unforeseen consequences and backlash. To ensure a large (and positive) return on investment, brands have to carefully calculate the risk, and more importantly, have a deep and innate understanding of how real people use a platform.

POPEYES SEIZES A GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY WITH ITS LIMITED-EDITION CLOTHING DROP

On Wednesday, January 29th, 2020, Popeyes dropped a fresh, limited-edition clothing line that mimics Beyoncé's Adidas x Ivy Park collection, which launched with much aplomb last week. Not only is the color scheme identical but the site layout and “sold out” emblems are both spot on. ‘That Look from Popeyes’ offers ten items that draw inspiration from the Popeyes’ uniform.

In regards to the Adidas x Ivy Park launch, it was a massive success but criticism came as expected. There was a fast comparison to Popeye’s maroon and orange chicken sandwich wrapper, so naturally, Popeyes ran with it. They hopped on the rapid response opportunity and created this limited line of merch pretty clucking fast.

The speed of turnaround is key. Just like the tweet that started it all—Popeyes’ jab at Chick-Fil-A—not only were they fast to respond, but they didn’t hold back. Rather than simply cracking a joke, they truly committed and actually brought it to life. As we learned from Ryan Reynolds and his quick clapback to the Peloton debacle, when it comes to viral marketing stunts, fortune favors the bold.

ARBY’S FASHION-FORWARD POWER MOVE

We know Burger King is coming for clowns, Wendy’s is jabbing every Twitter rival that glances in its direction, and Arby’s—well Arby’s is up to something slightly less aggressive, yet super clever when it comes to engaging competitors. The brand placed its iconic brown hat on fast-food mascots to honor National Hat Day. On January 15th, Arby’s posted the series of photos on Instagram along with the caption, “Let’s be honest, our hat makes everyone look good" with hashtag #NationalHatDay. This is Arby’s biggest marketing stunt since their viral 2014 tweet about Pharrell Williams sporting a similar hat to its mascot Grammys.

Arby’s capitalized on an otherwise mundane holiday in a unique and effective way. They took their emblematic hat and playfully involved rival brands to insert themselves into the “fast food wars” conversation. Arby’s keeps true to themselves (and their brand symbol), but can now naturally engage in a way that feels native to the category.

BEYONCÉ’S ADIDAS X IVY PARK LAUNCH AND ITS IMPLICATIONS ON CELEBRITY BRANDS

It happened. On January 18th, 2020, the long-awaited drop of Adidas x IVY PARK hit the market. Beyoncé’s loyal fan base, the “Beyhive,” swarmed the internet and stores, grabbing all the new gear launched by her collaboration with Adidas. The week prior, the celeb posted teasers on her Instagram, a brand video via Youtube, and encouraged her friends to create unboxing videos with their exclusively early swag.

Sounds like Kanyé and Yeezys, or Rihanna and Fenty, right? This move by Beyoncé is quite similar, as all of these celebs have worked with brands to become more than ambassadors—they are global superstars and brand owners "starting a business and creative partnership with the sportswear company." As Yeezys’s success transitioned Kanye from being millions in debt to a billionaire, think about the potential for the queen. IVY PARK is a successful label, working with Top Shop and other retailers, but a partnership with a major sportswear company like Adidas catapults both brands to the top of the heap.

For celebrities, the opportunity to partner with category leaders allows them to promote their businesses, and capitalize on existing audiences they might not reach on their own. However, for brands, a business partnership—as opposed to a paid ambassadorship—can be a cost-effective way to tap into the fame (and followings) of A-list celebrities that might otherwise be out of reach.

CROCS TRANSITION ‘FROM A MEME TO A DREAM’

If you haven’t heard, Crocs are cool again. You remember Crocs, right? The foam clogs that first landed on the scene in 2002. The brand took a hard hit, however, when their quirky design became a figure of fun (“Those little holes? That’s where your dignity leaks out.”) A-meme-zing.

Terence Reilly, who stepped in as Chief Marketer at Crocs in 2015, admits to heavy ridicule for their classic design, but nonetheless, his strategy has remained loyal to the original style. According to Reilly, “Everyone around the world knows the silhouette of the Crocs Classic. So, what we needed to do was move from the awareness, which we had lots of, into really making the classic more relevant.”

The Crocs comeback started with something simple: when youth style transitioned to sportswear, flat sneakers replaced heels as the shoe of choice for millennial women. Then, in 2017, Drew Barrymore introduced the Crocs “Come As You Are” campaign, which encouraged comfort in your own shoes. The campaign was quickly joined by celebs, Zooey Deschanel and Priyanka Chopra.

But it was Crocs dedication to social listening that really brought them from “a meme to a dream,” as Reilly likes to say. Their TikTok foray, #ThousandDollarCrocs, a challenge inspired by rapper Post Malone, inspired 45,00 videos within 36 hours of launch, gaining 95 million hashtag views. And the most recent collab, Kentucky Fried Chicken X Crocs, elevated the brand to a new level. Reilly noticed the overwhelming love for the all-American chicken, and within one year, a drumstick-printed clog—finished with two chicken-scented “Jibbitz” charms—came to be. The unique brand crossover debuted at New York Fashion Week and upped Crocs “cool factor,” thanks to Reilly’s innovative and authentic strategy.

This unlikely road to success not only shows rewards of self-awareness (and self-confidence) in brand marketing, but the value of keeping up with culture, and identifying the right places to insert your brand to strike a chord with your audience.

PLANTERS HALTS MR PEANUT’S SUPER BOWL FUNERAL DUE TO THE DEATH OF KOBE BRYANT

Ever since the campaign’s explosive launch last week, the Planters Super Bowl stunt—involving the demise of their 104-year-old mascot—has been the focus of much attention. However, after this week’s decade-defining tragedy sent shock waves throughout the world, Planters has decided to pause the entire campaign, including paid media, and will decide next steps through a lens conscious of those affected by the tragedy.

Planters also released a public apology for distributing “prayer candles” to the media, which were scheduled prior to Kobe Bryant’s death. A Planters spokesperson said, “We deeply regret any offense or upset caused by this coincidental timing.” However, as of now, they still plan to debut their “funeral” ads at the Super Bowl.

Reactions to the decision have varied: Some called it a rational choice, others felt it was an overreaction that arguably trivialized a real tragedy, while others pointed out that when compared to other major brand Snafus (we’re looking at you, Pepsi), this is barely a blip on the radar. What everyone can agree on is that, in light of all the other ways a brand can capture the public’s attention, dabbling in a serious theme like death was a risk not worth taking.

THE WESTMINSTER DOG SHOW TAKES TIKTOK

Entrepreneurial members of Gen Z have devised a new approach to thrift shopping—Instagram comments. Carly Shipman, an everyday student who goes to school, plays sports, does homework, peruses TikTok, and of course, worships Instagram, has taken up a new hobby with friend, Merrigan Allen. The 16-year-olds created a shared IG account, @funkythrifts, where they sell used clothes to over 24,000 followers. They photograph the clothes themselves and each post becomes a sale item, which includes sizing, brand, and condition information, along with the price and starting bid number. In their free time, the girls print shipping labels and package the clothes to send out to buyers.

Users comment their bid numbers on the post and follow a process similar to an eBay exchange. When the item is marked “sold,” the conversation moves to direct message and payment is completed through Venmo, PayPal, or CashApp. To be successful, the back and forth requires dedicated communication from both the buyer and seller.

There are several other accounts like @wavythriftz, @raddthrifts, and @savvyrhiftz managed by teenage girls that take the same approach. By using Instagram to auction off old clothes, it’s like a part-time job for Gen Zers, and follows suit with other ways teens use social media apps outside the norm. While brands may not plan to sell products via comment bid anytime soon, the project shows how—with a little ingenuity—social platforms can be harnessed for unique and compelling purposes far beyond anything imagined by their creators.

THE NBA UNVEILS AN UNEXPECTED TALENT APP TO FIND THE NEXT GIANNIS ANTETOKOUNMPO

With his dominant showing at the 2020 All-Star Game, the stardom of a player like Giannis Antetokounmpo is easy to take for granted. However, the logistics of discovering such an elite international candidate can be time-consuming for scouts, and the likelihood of discovery is too heavily weighted on luck and opportunity. But thanks to some new technology, that could be changing.

On February 14th, 2020, the NBA All-Star Tech launched a mobile AI-powered app, NBA Global Scout, which gives players from anywhere in the world the chance to record their measurements—from wingspan to agility—then show off their skills with drills developed to help NBA scouts evaluation process. Essentially, it eases the journey to become a basketball legend like Giannis. Amy Brooks, the NBA’s chief innovation officer, says “We see the possibilities here as essentially creating the LinkedIn for elite basketball.” It all starts with the main profile, then dives deeper into individual gameplay, data, highlights, etc., and removes the resource-intensive element for scouts.

The NBA has been globalizing for quite some time, and with the app, scouts can take that globalization even further. At the NBA All-Star events this past weekend, there were 19 international players, as fans watched from 215 countries with games streaming in 47 different languages—as you can tell, it’s a global game. The app creates a center for ballers and scouts, and eases the discovery process for both the NBA and standout players globally. For brands, an increasingly international player base means more opportunity to harness league and player partnerships as a truly global marketing platform.

JIF PEANUT BUTTER FINALLY JOINS THE “GIF” VS “JIF” DEBATE

J.M Smucker is finally taking advantage of the pronunciation debate we all know and love—how do you say “GIF”? If you ask us, we can’t believe it took them this long. The company is tapping into the pronunciation debacle with their new campaign linked to National Peanut Butter Lover’s Day, March 1, 2020. In a press release, J.M. Smucker personally forgives any human who has referred to a GIF as a Jif, but “asserts that ‘GIF’— short for graphics interchange format—is pronounced with a hard G, as in ‘graphic.’ The soft G, as in Jif, is the exclusive domain of the peanut butter brand.”

Jif partnered with GIPHY to establish branded GIFs, and asked people to share their pronunciation preference with the hashtag #JifvsGif. Jif also created a video, featuring Gary Goodman, a “professor” of linguistics who pronounces his name as “Jary Joodman.” He posits that “GIF” and “Jif'' are pronounced the same, and says, “Those of you jumping on this hard-G bandwagon, don’t be so gullible, they’re just trying to sell you jallons of peanut butter.” Finally, Jif released a limited-edition jar labeled “Gif,” available on Amazon for $9.99, printed with the campaign hashtag #JifvsGif. The 2,000 jars sold out in under 5 minutes—a real jiffy, eh!?

Once again, Jif’s awareness around internet culture (and how they intersect with it) empowered them to join the conversation in an authentic and irreverent way, and fans are on board. In fact, we’ve engaged with the #JifvsGif campaign on behalf of JBL, injecting the idea that Jif is to GIF as JBL is to GBL. The battle lines have been drawn and we’re siding with the peanut butter.

MCDONALD’S SCORES IN THE FAST-FOOD WARS WITH A FREE EGG MCMUFFIN DOWNLOAD

If you’re a McDonald’s Egg McMuffin fan, we’ve got good news. Mcdonald’s is giving away free Egg McMuffins in honor of “National Egg McMuffin Day” on March 2, 2020. Now mind you, this “holiday” is actually just a delicious marketing exercise, crafted by the fast-food joint itself. It’s not real—it’s just really awesome.

But there’s a catch—Wendy’s, known for its saucy Twitter banter, announced it would be releasing a breakfast menu on March 2, 2020, long before “National Egg McMuffin Day” was even a thing. Wendy’s new menu will include items like the Breakfast Baconator and the Frosty-ccino, but can those compare with something free and familiar?

The stunt is an effective one-two punch for McDonald’s, which normally finds itself on the wrong end of their competitors’ Twitter humor. By creating a fake holiday and giving away Mcmuffins—the fifth best-selling item on their menu—they’re not only sucking the air out of Wendy’s big announcement, they’re reminding consumers who really owns fast-food breakfast. It’s a savage power move aimed directly at a competitor, without even mentioning their name.

To get the free Egg McMuffin: download the official McDonald’s app, register an account, enter a participating McDonald’s between 6 am and 10:30 am on March 2, gobble up your free sandwich, and know this now, the offer is limited to one Egg McMuffin per customer.

TWITTER DEBUTS “FLEETS,” THE NEW STORIES FEATURE...BUT STILL NO EDIT BUTTON

Twitter is the most recent platform to execute Snapchat’s 24-hour “stories” approach. The new addition, called “Fleets” (a term for fleeting thoughts), is only testing in Brazil, with other countries soon to come. Fleet tweets will no longer use the like, retweet, or embed options in order to reduce replies—once the Fleet vanishes, the reply would lose meaning.

Product Manager Mo Al Adham at Twitter stated, they wanted “to make it possible for you to have conversations on the platform in new ways, with less pressure and more control.” However, Twitter users themselves are enraged with the update. In contrast, many have been pleading for an edit button feature, which is a step in the opposite direction. They’ve channeled their disappointment with the trending hashtag #RIPTwitter.

The loss of likes and retweets does inhibit the capability to drive organic platform reach—not a great look for Twitter. The fan backlash shows that the growing prominence of impermanent “story” content isn’t necessarily a forgone conclusion, and that social media’s role as a public record and forum isn’t disappearing anytime soon.

"TIME OUT NEW YORK" TEMPORARILY REBRANDS AS "TIME IN NEW YORK"

The go-to culture magazine “Time Out New York” has rebranded to “Time In” as NYC shuts down all restaurants, bars, and entertainment spaces due to COVID-19. Both the print magazine and website—typically known as the ultimate guide to exploring the city—will now advertise headlines like “The best takeout and delivery restaurants in New York” and “The 40 best movies on Netflix right now.”

Leave it to “Time Out New York” and its rapid response to bolster a few spirits! Will Gleason, the “Time In” rebrand editor said, “The city’s open-hearted, can-do spirit is what we celebrate every day here at Time Out New York, and it’s something we’ll continue to do over the next few unprecedented weeks.” The rebrand not only acknowledges the massive shift in their readers’ lives, but shows the magazine’s commitment to adding value in a new and timely way, reassuring readers that they can adjust just the same.

HE WESTMINSTER DOG SHOW TAKES TIKTOK

The social campaign behind this year’s Westminster Dog Show is after Gen Zers! The goal is to use TikTok influencers (those with 2 to 4 legs only) to resonate with younger users and get them interested in the event. Since dog shows are typically loved by an elder gang, this is an out-of-the-box approach to reach a new audience.

The pet-focused TikTok influencer Jaden Kingsley posted a video of Loki, a golden retriever, chowing down on Fritos amongst shots of impeccably groomed dogs at the 2020 Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. The caption reads “‘my dog’ versus ‘other dogs,’” and the post received over 367,000 views from Gen Zers. Gail Miller Bisher, Director of Communications for The Westminster Kennel Club says, “Implementing TikTok into our communications strategy this year is creating a whole new layer of fan involvement.” By engaging in Gen Z trends, on a Gen Z platform, they were able to activate a brand new audience with outsized results.