That is a pantload of genius. Kudos to Burger King and Crispin for remembering that parents still make the buying decisions. Double kudos for getting this approved by Nickelodeon: they should have sold tickets to that presentation.

First, it's funny. And totally on brand. You don't necessarily have to know the original or who Sir-Mix-a-Lot is to appreciate it. But if you do it works on another level. In fact, it wouldn't have worked as well -- if at all -- if they didn't get Mix-a-Lot for it. I have three kids, and no I don't feel the original -- and certainly not the parody -- are too sexually explicit. Everyone has a butt. Butts can be funny, and square butts even funnier. If you don't get that, you need to pull the stick out of yours. The humor is right in line with the cartoon -- it's often silly and juvenile. And don't assume younger kids don't know the original. My kids do. A lot of kids do. That song has never really gone away. Which is why I expect to hear kids singing this cover version for a while.

Definitely cuts through the clutter and makes me take notice. I wonder if it'll create any backlash for its focus on butts in a kids' meal spot....presumably most kids meals are for 4-9-year-olds, not teens. Could be a clever way to get free airings on evening news shows across middle America. I'd have a clever PR response in the bag featuring the King.

Overall, very fun concept and execution, with several key weaknesses.

Issues with the execution: at least when viewing this online,

1) Deliver the concept earlier: The concept of square butts is not visually delivered clearly in the first 10 seconds. On the 3 backup dancers with brown shorts on it's not so easy to see that they have square butts unless you look closely. It all happens too fast and should be more visually vivid right away. The first time we see the red dress it's much more vividly visual that it's a square butt. The brown does not cast the right shadows.


2) Clarify the offer: The first time he sings "99 cents" it's very garbled and does not come across. (sounds more like "59 cents" and garbled). The 99 cents should be more clearly sung and reinforced with a 99 cents graphic on screen the first time. It's a promo ad and the promo message needs to come through. Why don't we clearly see a sample of the toy? We're selling a meal with toy...the animated crab and starfish may be the toys, but they just come across as animations to me.


3) Punch up the laugh line: Celeb Cameo "Booty is booty", as executed, is a waste and just not for kids, and not all that funny for adults...too quietly delivered amongst all the mayhem. If the line were sold more, it might be a laugh in a super bowl party (beer drinking) viewing environment.

Ken Danieli
Danieli Consulting, LLC
http://kdanieli.com

enough with the creepy guy in the king mask already!

Unbelievably inappropriate on all accounts! Trash!

The genius of this spot is in its careful targeting to two separate audiences.

The product is a kids meal, which is meant for what? Children between four and twelve? These kids weren't even born when the original song came out, or when videos like the one this spot lampoons were at the height of popularity on MTV. They're also pre-pubescent, which means sexually suggestive content is meaningless--or the equivalent of scatological--to them.

All they need to get is that the Burger King likes square butts.

Of course, it's the parents that pony up the money for the kids meal, and a parent with a kid between four and twelve is likely to have been listening to the original version of the song this commercial remixes. Sixteen years ago, when the original song came out, they worried all the time about getting laid and not about all the calories in a fast food burger. Talk about a nostalgia play.

The risk, of course, is that parents tend to get twitchy about the very things they embraced enthusiastically once they realize that their kids are likely to enjoy them, too. So we'll have to see whether CP B managed to walk that line, making a spot that references sex without actually triggering righteous indignation.

Brian Belefant
brian@belefant.com
www.belefant.com
503 715 2852

A particularly annoying and inappropriate rap ad. Probably will be enjoyed in certain markets NOT associated with children. Sorry we'll stick to Happy Meals. My kids are freeked out by the wierd Burger King anyway and this does nothing to change that. Please save me from having to watch this every twenty minutes for the next three months.

Brilliant. I can't think of a single flaw oh wait, showing Sir Mix-a-Lot in the end. That was not cool. Brilliant otherwise.

I love The King but unfortunately, just like Padma, this reeks of being overtly displaced.

creepy, weird and annoying...even the kids don't like it. one big yuck :-(