Hootie + Burger King
| QuickTime link to the 1:00 commercial, which will pop in a new window. Around 2.5MB. |
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| Click for the :30 BK Ranch spot @1 MB, Quicktime |
I’ve been kind of hard on Burger King for their viral marketing attempts so I will make amends by giving them props on their musical ad featuring Darius from Hootie and the Blowfish.
This commercial (with the video link below the still frame) crash-lands squarely in the category of “So Awful it is Good”. Unfortunately it is with all seriousness I say that this is the high point of Mister Hootie’s career.
I do think, however, it is not a coincidence that in one shot a giant fry in the background appears to be rising from a lounging and spread-eagle cowboy’s groin. Now that you know to look for it you should not be able to miss it. I don’t know what they are trying to sell there, but I don’t want any of it.
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| Click for the :15 BK Ranch spot @500KB MB, Quicktime |
If you watch any sort of television you’ve most likely seen this spot a little too much recently, so I’ll give you some alternate :15 edits to take a look at to expand your viewing experience.
In this second spot you can hear totally new lyrics and see totally different shots. Ok one totally different shot. Ok it’s just a guy doing a flip.
There is a bad facet of these spots: long after you realize they are entertaining you’re still seeing them five hundred times a day. And then one day you realize your love of the spot has been twisted to hate. Just like what happened to America’s love for scripted comedy.
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| Click for the :15 BK Ranch #2 spot @500 KB, Quicktime |
This second fifteen-second edit is pretty much an abridged version of the long spot. My interest in these :15 edits is purely academic at this point. I’m not getting all obsessive. I’m not.
It is interesting to note there is an alternate shot of the lounging cowboys in this last edit which hides the french fry dong effect. From heretofore, this shall be referred to as FryDongGate.
This spot remains terrible for all the right reasons. Of the big fast food giants, Burger King lately has had the most creatively funny commercial spots. Their office-scenario spots are usually way above par, and the Hootie spot will be hard to unseat as champion of silliness.
Time to go hit the books. Did I say books? I meant booze.
| QuickTime link to the 1:00 commercial, which will pop in a new window. Around 2.5MB. |
Comment // March 31st, 2005 // 11:19 pm
Reasons why I love The Tender Crisp Bacon Cheddar Ranch
Comment // April 1st, 2005 // 1:25 pm
Hell yes, Dan.
Trackback // January 30th, 2006 // 7:39 pm
Burger King to have scariest Super Bowl Commercial
Pingback // February 8th, 2006 // 2:53 pm
[...] For the second installment of Super Bowl 2006 ads I’ve lumped together spots which are continuations of campaigns or basically sequels of early commercials. Burger King tops the list of notable awful commercials, but still maintains the humor of their current campaign. This minute-long spot is no Hootie jam, but does the job. [...]
Comment // July 6th, 2007 // 2:04 am
Ah, Hootie… maintaining that high artistic reputation all these years later.
It’s still better than any ad by Hardee’s/Carl’s Jr. (Sad but true.)
Comment // July 21st, 2007 // 11:54 pm
The Burger King spot that annoys me is the spot where p-diddy, puff doody, goofy or what ever his name is this week is featured. In this ad spot Diddy thug is seen saying I’m hungry and you store is closed, how are we going to remedy this. Lets glorify gangsta intimidation. Way to go Burger King!
B.
Pingback // October 14th, 2007 // 5:13 pm
[...] prowess they will run into issues for rock dominance with confusion over their similar names, but Hootie sold like 12 million copies of that album back in the day and are now shilling for Burger King, so [...]
Pingback // February 8th, 2010 // 2:32 am
[...] of refried beans and globs of melted cheese. Watching this I was reminded of Burger King’s strange attempt to simultaneously resurrect and re-kill Hootie’s career several years [...]