The Shocking Truth Behind Burger King’s Sudden Abandonment of Its ‘Creepy King’ Mascot Revealed
Ever wonder why some mascots just vanish like a bad punchline? Take the old Burger King mascot, for instance—also known to many as the ‘creepy king.’ Used from 2004 to 2011, this surreal little stranger made his rounds in ads that have since gone viral for all the wrong reasons. Honestly, nostalgia’s a funny thing, but I can’t say anyone’s shedding tears over this nightmarish monarch haunting kids’ dreams. In fact, Burger King had to retire him for some pretty dark reasons that even creepier clowns like Ronald McDonald might tip their hats to. As families drifted away to the safer, family-friendly arms of McDonald’s, that ominous crown had nowhere left to sit. Fast forward to today, and Burger King’s all about turning things around with play areas and seasonal fun—not so much creepy night terrors. Curious how a mascot can change the fate of a fast food giant? Dive in and find out! LEARN MORE.
We often get nostalgic for the way things used to be, but one thing surely nobody is missing is the old Burger King mascot.
The ‘creepy king’ mascot was used between 2004 and 2011 and featured in a number of advertising campaigns which have gone viral in recent years, and it turns out that the American fast food joint had to get rid of him for a particularly dark reason.
Personally, Ronald McDonald was always the scariest of the fast food mascots for me, but it was only when the crazy clown sightings began in 2016 that we started to see a little less of him.
And it was for a similarly sinister reason that the Burger King mascot was phased out nearly 15 years ago, with McDonald’s the ones to benefit as families stopped visiting their close rivals.
Burger King is adopting a new family-friendly approach (Getty Stock)
At a recent franchise convention, Burger King’s chief marketing officer Joel Yashinsky admitted that the Creepy King was scaring away families with small children, probably because he kept appearing in little Joey’s nightmares.
Yashinsky told Restaurant Business: “We had a number of learnings from Creepy King, and we’ve moved away from him because he had limited appeal.”
While adults might have found the king hilarious, children were naturally more inclined towards the family friendly options at McDonald’s, including the happy meals and not-scary-at-all clown.
So, we lost the creepy king and we haven’t really seen a replacement, which sadly seems to be the way with lots of food companies these days. Personally I miss seeing Mr T in the Snickers adverts the most of all.
Yashinsky explained: “At our heart and soul, we were always a family brand. So you will see that in the work we do, from advertising, from social media — a brand that’s welcoming and fun, but not at anyone’s expense.”
Although this reputation as a family brand was hurt somewhat when a mum was fired recently after she opened up about running the restaurant by herself for 12 hours, Burger King is now revamping some of its stores with play areas and its also launched a new menu ready for Halloween.
Ronald was far scarier to me (Getty Stock)
Yashinsky said about the new launch: “BK fans have come to expect something spirited from us during the Halloween season, and each year we try to bring even more fun to families.
“This year, we’ve dialled up the fun and flavor, not only with our ‘Monster Menu’ line-up complete with themed menu innovation, packaging and a special crown, but also with collectible buckets and Scooby-Doo toys – creating even more experiences for everyone.”
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