Burger King made headlines earlier this year after deciding to leave global AOR Mother for David just as it had left CP+B for mcgarrybowen.
David’s most prominent work for the client to date concerned the debut of an especially colorful Whopper at San Francisco’s Gay Pride parade, but this new campaign reminds us that the chain continues to turn work with other agencies. The spot comes from Culver City agency Pitch, which has been working with BK for over a decade; Pitch was the only creative shop to survive Burger King’s January purge.
How many dated references appear in this ad?
Yes, the Yumbo is — or was — a real thing. Like the McRib, it appeared briefly and then grew tastier by virtue of its own absence.
If there’s one thing the Internet loves (aside from cats and pornography), it’s cheesy celebrities from bygone eras. This has accounted for the revival of figures like Rick Astley, who has reemerged in the public consciousness thanks to rickrolling. RPA seeks to cash in on the phenomenon with their “Happy Honda Days” campaign, featuring Michael Bolton, the man once referred to as a “no-talent ass clown” in Office Space who returns to advertising after stints in spots like the one for Optimum earlier this year.
The campaign contains four new spots, all of which feature Bolton singing. Each spot begins by asking “What does it feel like to get a great deal at Happy Honda Days?” before answering with an original holiday song from Michael Bolton. (These would have been much funnier if they had made Bolton sing “When a Man Loves a Honda,” but I digress…) Our favorite is the spot featured above, in which Bolton’s singing is met by blank stares (probably the most honestly depicted reaction of the four spots/how we would react in that situation). As you can surmise, RPA went for the goofy approach with this campaign, in the hopes that people find the spots memorable. It would help if there was a little more variation among the four 30 second ads, as they all feel like basically the same spot. In addition to the TV campaign, there will be a live social media event on November 22nd featuring Bolton delivering personalized messaged under the promoted hashtag #XOXOBolton, as well as print and radio campaigns.
We don’t know about you, but we can’t see or hear anything about Michael Bolton without thinking of this. Credits and second “Happy Honda Days” spot after the jump. continued…
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