How a moldy burger increases sales

A few years ago, in the thick of the fog that was covid, one fast food joint shocked the world with an audacious ad that beautifully exemplifies the powerful persuasion technique of… 

Making the skeleton boogie. 

(Or making it dance, as Ben Settle would say—which, by the way, I’m pretty sure he didn’t come up with this idea, but I’m giving credit to him because that’s where yours truly learnt it.) 

The ad?

A Whopper being left out for 34 days. 

On day one, the burger looked like any plain ole Whopper. 

But by day 34, you could barely even tell it was a Whopper because mold covered it like a blanket. 

And you know what?

This simple ad resulted in something like 2 billion impressions, and, better yet, boosted Burger King’s sales to the tune of 4%—which may not sound like a lot, but it’s more than a pretty penny when you’re as big as Burger King. 

Yes, the Moldy Whopper ad worked. 

* It didn’t make potential customers worry that their fresh Whopper would come loaded with mold (which is a worry that sounds silly on the surface, but you’d be surprised by how many business owners lack the confidence in their product or service or business or themselves to try such a gutsy ad like this where their product or service or business or themselves could be seen in a “bad” light). 

* It attacked a competitor, McDonald’s, without mentioning them by name. (The reason it attacked McDonald’s is because their burgers are jam-packed with so many preservatives and chemicals that mold doesn’t grow on a Big Mac.) 

* It was a brilliant example of “vision drives decision” which is impossible to unsee once its been seen 

* It tapped into a modern angst and entered the conversation already happening in the heads of everyone in the US—what exactly is all this extra crap that’s in our food but isn’t in the food of other first-world countries?

* And most importantly, it made the skeleton boogie

Here’s what that means:

It took something negative (moldy burger) and spun it into a positive. 

This takes the utmost confidence and anti-neediness to do this. That’s why most business owners shy away from it—they secretly lack confidence and are filled to the brim with needy energy. And that is exactly why it’s so damn persuasive. 

Moral of the story?

If you need help implementing the persuasion techniques embedded into this simple 34-second ad, email is mayhap the best way to do this. 

Especially when you write emails “my” way. 

But it won’t happen overnight… unless you hit reply, we hop on a quick call,  and we both deem each other good fits. In that case, it will happen overnight because I’ll be working directly on your emails. 

John