Burger King flips focus on Whopper to celebrate UK favourite Chicken Royale

BBH cooks up a Burger King UK campaign that celebrates the nation's love for the Chicken Royale

By Creative Salon

07 June 2023

Burger King and BBH have put the spotlight on the nation's favourite chicken burger - the Chicken Royale - producing a campaign that taps into a truth that for some, the Home of the Whopper, is not all about the beef.

Instead of a clichéd food porn, shot of a golden chicken fillet gently landing onto a bed of crisp iceberg lettuce, creative agency BBH has created 'We Give Up' – an idea driven by the fact that, in spite of receiving very little promotion by Burger King, the Chicken Royale is consistently one of the restaurant’s best-selling burgers, and has made a more favourable impression on internet users than rival offerings.

'We Give Up' highlights just how much effort Burger King UK has put into making the Whopper famous; spending millions over the decades, and dubbing itself the Home of it – only for certain diners to consistently choose the Chicken Royale when they visit a restaurant.

The campaign has been brought to life in a TV and Cinema ad where the hero travels through eras from the 1960s to the 2020s, bombarded by Whopper ads. Nevertheless, as it comes to place their order, they ask for a Chicken Royale.

While the idea is carried through to out-of-home executions, in press they are introducing the first-ever ‘Chicken Royale Day’, a last-minute replacement for the regularly scheduled Whopper Day, driven by customer love. To honour the much-loved burger, on Wednesday 7 June the fast-food brand is offering fans nationwide a Chicken Royale for just £1 via the Burger King app.

Though the campaign acknowledges the diehard fans’ devotion, BBH hopes to remind the rest of us of the delicious simplicity of the Chicken Royale.

The campaign is running in the UK on television, OOH, social press and print, over a 10-month period.

Felipe Serradourada Guimaraes, Deputy Executive Creative Director and Partner, BBH, said: “The King’s crown jewel has been replaced. Sorry Whopper.”

Soco Núñez de Cela, Brand and Communications Director, Burger King UK, said: “At Burger King, we’ve heroed our iconic Whopper for decades. This year, we wanted to flip the status quo and celebrate a fan favourite, the Chicken Royale instead. This simple but self aware idea reminisces on Whopper through the years while reminding guests that, whilst we may be The Home of the Whopper, we are also home to the most loved chicken burger in the UK, The Chicken Royale.”