The Subservient Chicken
Created for Miami Advertising Agency Crispin Porter and Bogusky by The
Barbarian Group, the Subservient Chicken is a viral marketing promotion
of Burger King’s line of chicken sandwiches.
The campaign is based on a web site that features a person in a chicken
costume. The actor performs a wide range of actions based on a
user’s input, showing pre-recorded footage and appearing like
an interactive webcam. The takes literally the advertising slogan
“Get chicken just the way you like it”.
There are more than a hundred commands the chicken will respond to,
including:
· Michael Jackson dance moves
such as moonwalk
· River dance
· The elephant
· Lay an egg
· Walk like an Egyptian
· Yoga
· Rage
· Spank
· Taco Bell
· Fight
When told to do anything the Subservient Chicken thinks is offensive,
like perform sex acts or take off his mask, the chicken walks up to the
camera and shakes a scolding chicken finger in disappointment. If he is
told to east food from rival fast food places like McDonald’s
he approaches the camera and places his finger down his throat but when
told to eat Burger King he has a more positive response. The chicken
responds to the command “smoke crack” by smoking
but when told to “smoke a bong” he waggles his
finger scoldingly.
Burger King’s Chicken Fights campaign was recently
introduced. The two cockfighting chicken characters are modeled off
this chicken.
There seems to be no end to the variations on the theme from Burger
King. There has also been a lot of criticism leveled at the chain about
the Subservient Chicken but for now it looks like Burger Kind is crying
all the way to the bank.
A successful viral campaign isn’t always in good
taste… maybe that’s what makes them so tasty.
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