Renowned Artist Andy Warhol featured in a Burger King Commercial
Remember that advert you once saw on screen? That one that got you thinking wow, just wow, who was behind this? This is what Burger King recently did. A new advert - and a never expected approach.
On Sunday, March 3rd the Corporation released a new advertisement strategy for its famous ‘Whopper Burger’, which features the renowned leading figure in Pop Art - Andy Warhol. A 45 - second clip showing Warhol eating a Whooper Burger was aired in a Burger King Commercial during the Super Bowl LIII. Unlike what most of us would have expected - to see a dramatic ending, this one shows Warhol silently unwrapping a Whopper, adding a little ketchup and eating it, silently, no drama, no nothing. Recently before they had it aired, the Burger King secured approval from the Andy Warhol Foundation to use the footage – and the foundation said they loved the idea because they felt it was true to him and something he would have done in a way. Quoted speaking, the executive director of the agency behind the commercial said “It’s about getting everyone to experience art.”
However, it appears that Warhol might have not been a big fun of Burger King’s Whopper but instead a fan of its competitor the McDonald’s. The artist once wrote in his book, The Philosophy of Andy Warhol (1975), “The most beautiful thing in Stockholm is the McDonald’s. The most beautiful thing in Florence is the McDonald’s. Peking and Moscow don’t have anything beautiful yet.” Could it be that he was speaking his heart or is it just a form or writing used by authors?
In a statement, the Corporation said that it aimed at breaking the norm used in Super Bowl Commercials, which are filled with explosions, slapstick jokes and celebrities, with an almost silent, yet powerful work of art. This artist Warhol once said, "What's great about this country, is that America started the tradition where the richest consumers are able to buy the same things as the poorest”, I couldn’t agree more. With its hashtag #EatLikeAndy, the Corporation says that the purpose of using this Warhol Commercial, is to promote equality - for its customers to know that: Whoppers are for everybody – the wealthy, the famous, the poor, the athletes as well as the artists.
The scene is originally from a film “66 Scenes from America” directed by Danish director Jorgen Leth in the year 1982. Its purpose was to highlight the different aspects of the modern American Society. In a recent interview, Leth was quoted saying that “Warhol chose to have the Burger King Whopper on camera to save time, but judging from the blank expression he had, his heart wasn’t in it”. Reminiscing the event , Leth said that Warhol questioned why they had to settle for the three burgers he got and not a McDonald’s, one form Burger king and the other two being neutral products.
The commercial which not only promotes Burger but Andy Warhol exhibits as well has been on the tongues of many, of course, there are likes and dislikes. On the corporation's YouTube channel, one comment on ‘the understanding of the commercial by the millennials (persons born 1980s-1990s)’ got me thinking, does everyone actually relate to the commercial? Do our majority of young persons understand Art and its relevance on literally everything?
It took 37 years to have the commercial on the view, but well, It is just among the different ways one can promote a product.