Burger King and Beckham-- a Symbiotic Relationship

With their new ad campaign, Burger King  is clearly trying to cash in on David Beckham's celebrity status in order to give them a hipper,  more exciting image, after years of using the family-friendly "Burger King" as the center of their advertising.  Interestingly, Beckham's image in the US is quite different from his image abroad.  In America, he is known more for being good-looking and famous (and being the husband of Posh Spice) than he is for playing soccer, which means that he has a different demographic of followers here that Burger King is trying to reach.  I would guess that most women anywhere from 15- 40 years old recognize Beckham  from seeing his picture plastered throughout celebrity magazines like People Magazine, whereas most men over the age of 30 who don't follow soccer are probably unaware who he is.

Using their positive associations with Beckham's celebrity popularity, Burger King is hoping to make itself "cool" in the minds of young to middle-aged women, which will hopefully make them consider stopping in.  After all, when someone like David Beckham, who could afford to eat at the most expensive places with all his celebrity friends, is ordering at the counter from a Burger King, it might make people rethink their feelings about Burger King as a cheap family-oriented food place.  At the very least, this audience will be drawn into the ad because Beckham's face is featured prominently, which draws their attention to Burger King for thirty seconds.  And because the viewer is watching the ad, they will also see the making of the "delicious" fruit smoothie that is subtly wedged in between Beckham close-ups, allowing the viewer's positive associations with Beckham to carry over to the fruit smoothie.

Perhaps even more than it is an ad for Burger King, this is an ad for the David Beckham brand.  Although he has long been tabloid fodder, Beckham really doesn't really have much of an established public personality for better or worse, which means that most viewers can't really connect with him or "like" him as a person.  That Beckham is willing to be in a Burger King ad, and especially when he is making fun of his image as only a pretty face, gives him a sense of humor that viewers can connect to, and ironically makes him more than a pretty face.  And by establishing a more personable side to Beckham, he makes himself more marketable, which in turn helps Burger King's ad campaign as well.  Probably a win for Burger King, definitely a win for Beckham.

Appealing to the male ego again...yawn

The arrogance of this ad is just too much for me.  And I'm not talking about macho ideal that it's appealing to-- this can be entertaining and even appealing (see the very similarly themed Kettle One ads).  No, the arrogance of this ad that is more off-putting than other ads using the same theme of "manliness" is that we (men) are assumed to feel a sense of camaraderie with this guy and what he stands for--as if he captures the essence of this desire for masculinity-- and that this open appeal to our masculinity is unique to this ad.

Obviously, appealing to the "man" in guys, especially young to middle-aged, middle- to upper-middle class guys is nothing new, so pretending that it is just annoying to me.  This might not be a problem if I were not part of the target audience, but unfortunately for 1800, I think I'm squarely in their crosshairs.  As a single, soon-to-be college graduate entering the workplace who drinks and goes out, and who even tends towards old-school symbols of manliness, I'm their guy.  This was further confirmed by the general tone and look of the ad which, I have to admit, drew me in.  The dark, subtle styling of the ad as well as the ad's use of a spokesman who doesn't look like a sculpted model were all hitting home with me; in fact, I would probably have been attracted to 1800 by this ad campaign if it had had no sound and maybe flashed the words "Men, drink up" at the end.  But when that guy opened his mouth while looking at us guys like we all are going to be impressed by what he is going to say, followed up by nothing impressive or humorous, I became bothered.

Perhaps the biggest issue was that I realized that I had been had; the ad had manipulated my emotions without any payoff.  It's like when a movie is talked up so much and is then panned when it fails to meet the high expectations.  I actually ended up having negative feelings towards the ad because it failed after it piqued my interest.  Although they say bad press is better than no press, in this case I doubt it because I'm actually certain to avoid buying 1800 tequila after this campaign.

My response to this ad might have been different if there weren't already a steady stream of similar advertising, even from 1800 Tequila's competitors, but even then, probably not because the ad is blatant where it should been subtle.  Notice how Kettle One tequila's ad (above) appeals to all the same hot points for the young male ego, but it does so in a way that the viewer is allowed to enjoy being targeted.  In contrast, this ad slaps you across the face with it's message and expects you to be grateful-- no thanks.