041115 Burger King Promotes Chicken Fight

Miami, FL - Tune in to channel 340 on DirecTV and you'll see an honest-to- goodness chicken fight - a boxing match between two actors in chicken suits representing Burger King's chicken sandwich varieties.

It sounds bizarre, but it's the latest, and probably quirkiest, example of marketers trying to find new ways to get consumer attention in an era when viewer interest in watching 30-second commercials is waning.

As TiVo and other digital video recording devices threaten to cut ad viewing even more, marketers are fighting back with ads disguised as content. Or in this case, a chicken fight.

"The new wave of advertising is trying to look like content," says Steven Addis, CEO of brand strategy firm Addis. "This could be the first step toward ... a commercial before a pay-per-view movie starts."

Burger King marketers expect that the multimedia promotion for its regular TenderCrisp and Spicy TenderCrisp sandwiches will push people, especially young males, to watch the fight - being billed as "Chaos in the Coop."

Burger King bought an hour time slot from DirecTV for an undisclosed amount and will run the 15-minute fight four times.

Since Oct. 26, Burger King has used three national ads and a dedicated Web site (www.chickenfight.com) to drive interest in the main event. Five million people had cast votes for their favorite chicken - T.C. (TenderCrisp) or Spicy (Spicy TenderCrisp) - at the site. The final votes will help determine the winner of tonight's "bout."

"This is a target audience that requires high entertainment value in the way you connect with them," says Russ Klein, Burger King's chief marketing officer. "Over the past year, we've shown we like unconventional (marketing)."

This year, that has included "Subservient Chicken," a Web site with a chicken that followed typed-in commands, and Dr. Angus, a fictional doctor "famous" for his Angus steak-burger diet.

The bout, the latest brainchild of ad agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky, is a way for Burger King to build its TenderCrisp sandwich line. Out since April, the line is projected to hit sales of $500 million in its first 12 months.

"Reaching our core customer in different, non-traditional ways is a requirement these days," says Brian Gies, Burger King's vice president of marketing impact.

Burger King reported its ninth-consecutive month of same-store sales growth with October sales up 6.9%.

Burger King pursued DirecTV for the deal because the digital satellite provider is known for pro fights on its pay-per-view channel and because DirecTV would air the bout on its channel dedicated to commercial programming or one-time specials.

"It is advertising, albeit the first of its kind," says Bob Marsocci, a DirecTV spokesman. "It may be a little silly and little questionable in taste. Be that as it may, we give them credit for it."

Would DirecTV consider more such "shows"? "If we're approached by a company with a solid reputation and quality product or service, it's something we'd consider," Marsocci says.

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