Colenso BBDO and Burger King are continuing their somewhat outrageous creative partnership with the introduction of Frank, a cockney geezer with a seeming inexhaustible resource of vernacular-laden phrases that even Guy Ritchie would battle to understand.
In the first of the series of 12 YouTube videos, the rotund character introduces himself as the mascot of “Burger King’s very British HP barbecue Whopper” and he then promises to teach viewers how to speak like “a proper geezer.”
Although the videos are hosted on YouTube, the campaign has also been integrated onto Burger King’s Facebook page through daily competitions that incorporate images and clips of Frank.
In one of the clips, the character speaks directly at the camera, seemingly asking the viewer and some mates to become involved in a covert operation that involves a heist of $200. The viewer is then prompted to tag three friends who might want a piece of the action.
The campaign effectively brings together two of the central themes that have been established in Colenso’s recent promotions for the fast food chain: bizarre characters and experimental advertising via YouTube.
At the end of last year Burger King released a series of 64 very meta pre-rolls that called the mode of advertising out for being invasive and annoying. This was followed by the short-lived introduction of the blue-blood mascots. Next, the ad agency used real surveillance footage for an interactive manhunt on Facebook, before going all out by converting a North Shore motel into a licentious hotspot where visitors could go to cheat on beef.
While Colenso’s promotions for Burger King do have a strong digital focus, the agency still releases television ads. However, the difference now is that the agency is looking for ways to connect this content to online audiences while simultaneously finding ways to engage via social media.
Here are the other videos in the new series: