Farewell to The King! 'Burger King' is Dropping Its Mascot

[Brian Damage]

Down with the King. Burger King is overthrowing its bizarre monarch mascot and swearing allegiance to a new character: its food.

What a concept. The struggling fast-food chain’s new advertising campaign, launching this weekend, will focus adoringly on the preparation of fresh ingredients rather than the King's odd antics, the company said.

The migration to healthy menus is a move being taken by most of Burger King’s competitors. Restaurants that once reveled in fatty dishes served up in huge portions are increasingly offering smaller, low-calorie plates.

And on Monday, Burger King will roll out its new, guacamole-filled California Whopper burger nationwide.

The accompanying advertisements from the McGarry Bowen firm will feature lush images of avocados, tomatoes, lettuce and beef. In such a body-conscious realm, there seems to be no place for a plasticized sovereign derided by many customers as creepy instead of edgy.

“That’s not to say that in the future, we don’t introduce him in some other form,” said spokesman Miguel Piedra. “But our new marketing approach is more food-centric.”

Besides, the King has long been usurped by a clown named Ronald. McDonald’s pulled in $1.4 billion in net income in its second quarter, a 15% increase year over year. Burger King’s net income slipped 13% in its second quarter to $42.8 million.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/mone...-the-king.html

[Janice]

He's was one creepy dude. Now if they'd only fire Flo from Progressive. Funny at first, but enough is too much. *yawn*.

[James28]

Least it's better than replacing the Burger King mascot with Michael Jackson or his (Jackson's) disembodied spirit.

[tiredmike59]

Does a company really need a mascot to entice people to buy their product ?

[Janice]

Originally Posted by tiredmike59

Does a company really need a mascot to entice people to buy their product ?

I don't think so. Not all companies use them. I love the Afleck duck. He's one I never tire of. Mr. Clean's been around forever. I think there's a problem when the mascot takes over the product's identity completely, and people forget what the product is and just love the mascots. I'm trying to figure out what company the Cavemen worked for; then again, I've got a lot going on at the moment, including a meatloaf in the oven that I haven't checked in a while. I have no business sitting at the computer, lol. Okay, Geico. I'm off.

[catlover79]

Woohoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[MrCleveland]

GOOD!

That Burger King was a complete dick! This prooves that Ronald McDonald IS still the real Burger King...and I'm not just saying that!

[Reverend Jim]

Originally Posted by Janice

He's was one creepy dude. Now if they'd only fire Flo from Progressive. Funny at first, but enough is too much. *yawn*.

[mets82]

Originally Posted by Janice

He's was one creepy dude. Now if they'd only fire Flo from Progressive. Funny at first, but enough is too much. *yawn*.

Thats true. You can get rid of Flo and take the Geico Cavemen with her!!!

[MrCleveland]

Originally Posted by mets82

Thats true. You can get rid of Flo and take the Geico Cavemen with her!!!

I think The Cavemen are Gone!

[JamesG]

5 Most Controversial Mascots Of All Time
By Claire Gordon
Posted Aug 22nd 2011


Burger King recently fired its 56-year-old mascot.

In one of his most recent commercial beats, the King took the form of a grown man in a costume monarch outfit and smiley mask, waking up in a stranger's bed, and urging him to try a Double Croissan'Wich in a Freddy Kruger drawl.

Some thought it was hip. Others thought it was creepy. Either way, it wasn't too hot for sales.

Other controversial mascots have managed to cling onto their jobs, despite the recession, lawsuits, and decades of protest.





Here are the top five:





5. Lady GolfBird






You're probably not acquainted with Lady GolfBird, the multi-colored toucan with the slender black-tipped beak. That's because Toucan Golf Inc., the Ohio-based company that adopted GolfBird as its mascot in 1994, rarely sells its polycarbonate putter heads to the public.

But that didn't stop cereal mogul Kellog from suing the golf equipment manufacturer for trademark infringement in 2001. After all, Toucan Sam, the stout, stripe-billed, British bird, has been advising children to "follow his nose" to Fruit Loops since the 1960s.



Kellogg's claimed Lady Golfbird created a "likelihood of confusion."

TGI countered that Toucan Sam's "unique shape, coloring, size and demeanor are ... not reminiscent of anything seen in the wild," while GolfBird actually "resembles a real toucan."

Also, one sold sugary rainbow wheat puffs and the other golf clubs.



Kellogg's lost. The two Toucans remain alive and well.











4. Ronald McDonald






Corporate Accountability International, the watchdog group responsible for the premature deaths of the Marlboro Man and Joe Camel, set its sights on Mr. McDonald in 2009.

The campaign gained steam last May, when hundreds of health workers signed an open letter, published in newspapers across the country, asking McDonald's CEO to please fire the restaurant's "Chief Happiness Officer," given the unhappy levels of salt, sugar and calories it its food.



Almost half of Americans agree with CAI.

Even so, 65 percent of the country still thinks favorably of the 48-year-old man with the painted grin and yellow jumpsuit. He has so many positive hobbies after all, like singing, dancing, and caring for the sick, in addition to peddling fried food to small children.











3. Colonel Reb






Mississippi University's nickname "Ole Miss" is what slaves used to call slave master's wives.

The school's main administrative building, the Lyceum, served as a hospital during the Civil War, and still has the bullet holes from when the school attempted to integrate in 1962. That gives you an idea of the heavy history packed into the 163-year-old institution.



All of this is neatly summed up in the figure of Colonel Reb, a white-bearded antebellum plantation owner, complete with wide brimmed hat and cane.

In an effort to overcome its tarnished past, Ole Miss formally retired Colonel Reb in 2003. But the man just wouldn't die.

Finally, in fall 2010, the school banned the sale of his image, and voted in the more politically correct mascot of a cuddly black bear.



Having officially lost his title, perhaps Colonel Reb shouldn't be on this list.

But the school's sports teams are still called the Rebels, a nickname for the Confederate army that can't help but elicit the old Colonel who helped lead it. They may have buried the Reb, but his ghost lives on.











2. Washington Redskins






For many Redskin fans, the mascot conjures up the team's noble attributes: courage, strength, dedication, perseverance.

For many Native Americans, it evokes a stereotype of "blood-thirsty savages ... frozen in history" and the degradation, dehumanization, and mass murder that their people endured at the hands of early European settlers.



For decades, Native Americans have demonstrated at Redskin games.

At one, protestors handed fans redskin potatoes, asking that if the team wouldn't change its name, could it at least make its mascot a potato.

In 1992, a handful activists took the case to the Supreme Court, on the grounds that the Redskins violated the Lanham Act, which states that nothing "disparaging, scandalous, contemptuous or disreputable" can be trademarked.











1. Aunt Jemima






The original Aunt Jemima was the plump, beaming, wide-eyed "mammy" slave stereotype, inspired by a blackface song and dance number from a 19th century minstrel show.

Former slave Nancy Green served as the product's spokesperson, cheerily cooking up flapjacks while telling crowds: "I'se in town, honey."



Mammies have always been good at pushing product, from Aunt Sally's baking powder to Aunt Dinah's molasses.

But Aunt Jemima is the only one to endure, despite an NAACP boycott in the early 1960s, and an intensified chorus of protest around Aunt Jemima's birthday in 1989.



Aunt Jemima quickly became one of the best known and loved brands in the country, offering overworked housewives the convenience of a "slave in a box," in the words of author Maurice Manring, who wrote a book about the mascot.

And even though her image modernized over the years -- face slimmed down and beautified, the do-rag replaced with natural curls, classy pearl studs popped in her ears -- her name is still used to trash prominent black females, from Oprah to Condeleeza Rice to Michelle Obama.

http://jobs.aol.com/articles/2011/08...3_lnk3%7C88464

[catlover79]

I'm shocked that this guy didn't make that list:

[tiredmike59]

Frito Bandito said adios years ago.
I kind of miss him.

[MrCleveland]

Originally Posted by tiredmike59

Frito Bandito said adios years ago.
I kind of miss him.

I, myself miss the 7-UP ads that I remember, like Orlando Jones...



And Cool Spot....



And though Fresh-up Freddie was before my time...I'm starting to like his ads from the 50's....



7-UP seem to have some kick-ass ads!

[biffbronson]

From the list:

"For decades, Native Americans have demonstrated at Redskin games.

At one, protestors handed fans redskin potatoes, asking that if the team wouldn't change its name, could it at least make its mascot a potato."

They could put a football helmet on Mr. Potatohead. But then there would be objection to his having red skin...!