The Downfall of The Burger King Kingdom - The BK Kids Club & ‘Creepy King’

this episode of yesterworld is sponsored by current the future of mobile banking we'll talk about it more after the episode but it's a great solution if you've grown tired of all the inconveniences and outdated restrictions of traditional banks just go to current.com yesterworld or check out the link in the description to see what they're all about and support the channel by signing up today when it comes to the history of fast food restaurants there's certainly no shortage of interesting stories from the downfall of the once insanely popular burger chef subway's origins as pete's super submarines and of course the world and characters of mcdonald land but then you have the burger king kingdom and the numerous incarnations of the restaurant's fictional fast food universe plus this horrifying monstrosity similar to mcdonald's it's a story that spans over 50 years and goes in quite a few unexpected directions so sit back relax and let's take a deep dive into another one of fast food's most iconic and absolutely bonkers advertising campaigns the story begins all the way back in 1953 with a hamburger restaurant called insta burger king in jacksonville florida the owners of the establishment were keith cramer and matthew burns and their inspiration actually came from a visit to the very first mcdonald's in san bernardino california however unlike mcdonald's speedy system that used flat-top grills they used a machine known as the insta burger stove hence the name insta burger king another difference between the two burger businesses was their mascot or lack thereof as while mcdonald's had a half-human half-burger abomination for theirs insta burger king didn't have one at all at least not yet enter james mclemore and david r edgerton who just so happened to be friends of the owners and expressed the desire to become insta burger king franchisees but they also had the belief that in order to truly succeed it was time for the burger franchise to have an official mascot one that rivaled or surpassed mcdonald's humburger so they came up with the burger king who is either incredibly small or somehow produced gigantic hamburgers and milkshakes the first implementation of the burger king was in 1954 and additional locations with the new mascot began popping up all over florida but you might be wondering okay so why isn't burger king called insta burger king today and if not i'm gonna tell you anyway you see despite the catchy name the insta burger stove was a headache to use and constantly suffered from mechanical issues so edgerton and macklemore developed a completely new cooking system this innovation was called the flame boiler as instead of cooking in an oven the burgers were transported over gas flames on a chain-link conveyor belt going even further the new cooking device wound up giving the patties a distinct grill line and though completely unintentional this also made the burger stand out among the competition aka mcdonald's but more importantly was the introduction of the whopper in 1957 as while double the price of a mcdonald's burger it was also quite larger and far more filling so the word insta was taken off the title of the restaurant and due to the popularity of the whopper they simply became burger king home of the whopper anyway the original owner sold the company to edgerton in mclemore 1959 and that's when profits truly begin to soar but the real meat of our story begins in 1967 as the franchise was sold once again but this time to the pillsbury company hi i'm poppin fresh the pillsbury doughboy hi out of cookies let's make some hey you guys quick fun fact the pillsbury doughboy's original name was going to be jonathan pillsbury and was also voiced by paul freeze aka the haunted mansion ghost house now as strange as it sounds the pillsbury doughboy actually played a pretty major part of the evolution of the burger king you see the 1960s and 70s was the boom of companies using animated mascots to advertise their products on television specifically to children cereal commercials and sugary snacks were by far the most popular in which adorable characters were mixed with humorous skits to drive up sales so as an attempt by pillsbury to capitalize on this growing television marketing fad they came up with the adorable pillsbury doughboy and his equally adorable tv spots of course the campaign was a huge success so when pillsbury got their hands on burger king they desired to do something very similar but much like what they were also doing with the lovable doughboy they also wanted to merchandise burger king's mascot the problem was that the original design for the burger king himself was a bit off-putting and not super merchandise friendly so together with a new logo and tagline he was given a complete redesign to appear much more like a television cartoon character no i said television character not terrifying character but your time will come here's the burger king himself johannes exactly what is it you go to burger king for lunch yes but i mean is it the whopper thank you or the fries don't mind if i do burger king where kids are king now these animated burger king television ads were pretty straightforward in which reporters interviewed the burger king about the restaurant or featured shenanigans with fantasy characters though to be fair this is based on just two examples as unlike the countless early mcdonald's commercials these are exceptionally hard to find online i mean i literally spent hours upon hours pouring through 60s and 70s television ads but i only found these two so the rest of their storylines are a bit of a mystery or how many there actually were adding to the mystery was a redesign of the character in 1972 so i have to imagine there's even more commercials featuring this iteration now since it does tie into our story later it's also worth mentioning the restaurant's live action promotions or more specifically the slogan have it your way you see this was a sort of slap in the face to mcdonald's as when it came to food options and special requests they were pretty unflexible and what am i a mind reader ah from now on i just don't care however with burger king patrons were encouraged to well have it their way with a much wider selection of condiments and toppings but mcdonald's influences would soon go beyond just burger king's food offerings as the 1970s was also the height of mcdonaldland [Music] now for those unaware we extensively covered the entire history of mcdonaldland in a previous episode so if you haven't already maybe give it a watch after this one and while you're at it subscribe to the channel but for the purposes of this episode all you need to know is that it was mcdonald's promotional campaign starring ronald mcdonald they were also filled to the brim with other mcdonald's food-centric characters featuring all kinds of shenanigans that usually revolved around a particular menu item what's the matter me mcgee's the mcdonald lamb cookie machine it's making the delicious cookies upside down you know the campaign was incredibly successful and a pop culture phenomenon so it should be no surprise that the rival burger king wanted to do something very similar enter tony hassini founder of the international magician society and a well-respected magician himself you see in 1976 he had the idea for a television campaign one that would feature a magical character performing on-screen magic tricks so he pitched the idea to burger king and together with their desire of competing with mcdonald land a new iteration of the burger king was born [Music] uh well this is awkward i wasn't referring to you but we'll get there my promise introducing that king of fun the one who's okay with us kids [Music] the magic burger king in person yay i'm the marvelous magical burger king i can do most anything now watch me kids when i twist my ring like magic [Music] the first of burger king's new magic-centric television commercials appeared in 1977 and introduced the marvelous magical burger king as the whimsical name implies the revitalized mascot was now a magician although most of his powers seem to be limited to burger king menu items the vast majority of the magic tricks were performed in camera thanks to the talents of tony hassini and the rest were achieved using special effects and editing techniques i'm up here kids but don't give up hope i'll be right down with my magic robe i love magic and food that's fun [Music] now i wouldn't blame you for thinking okay this doesn't seem that similar to mcdonald land and at first it wasn't but then came the other characters a year or so later to join the burger king and that's when these promotions became very suspiciously mcdonald's there was the duke of doubt who was convinced that the burger king's magic was fake and frequently tried to oust him as a fraud see this burger i doubt it's true i'll change it to fries i doubt it through and through now if you're like me and he gives you a severe case of the ebg bees it's more than likely because he bears an uncanny resemblance to the horrifying child coucher from the movie chitty chitty bang bang here we are children come and get your lollipops there was also sir shake a lot who had an unhealthy obsession with burger king's milkshakes and was always shivering due to how cold they are at least that's the official reason as i'm pretty sure he was just in a constant state of milkshake withdrawal if you're making shake i'll order one another character was the wizard of fries who was a robot quite literally powered by french fries with the power to multifry and duplicate them endlessly finally there was the burger thing which was honestly i'm not entirely sure but something along the lines of a living hamburger painting shake a lot i doubt it how about a shake sir shake a lot great shake now unlike the massive line of mcdonald land merchandise and by massive i mean covering virtually all forms of retail the burger king kingdoms was pretty bare bones most were simply tied to restaurant promotions and even those were few and far between so despite the production of over 200 television commercials it seems that burger king's fictional world and characters never quite took off in the same way mcdonald's did however when it came to the two restaurants non-fantasy promotions they both gave each other a true run for their money and was honestly pretty shocking by today's standards one of the more shameless examples was the burger king magic meal which just so happened to appear less than two years after the mcdonald's happy meal but unlike mcdonald's the magic meal's title was interchangeable as it then became the jet age meal followed by the thundercats meal and then the silverhawks meal so basically whatever toy they were selling plus the word meal at the end conversely due to the success of burger king's star wars campaign mcdonald's began to also do movie tie-ins especially with their kids meals such as star trek the motion picture adding to the rivalry was an ad campaign in 1982 in which burger king made fast food history by attacking mcdonald's in their food offerings by name when i order a regular burger at mcdonald's they make it with twenty percent less meat than perfect unbelievable luckily i know perfect way to show mcdonald's how i feel i go to burger king you see making vague comparisons to competing restaurants wasn't anything new but specifically attacking their products prices and food offerings was the most infamous were a set of commercials starring a very young sarah michelle geller which insinuated that mcdonald's burgers contained 20 less meat than burger kings the big m then actually wound up suing burger king on the grounds of slander misleading claims and damages however as a quick side note this wasn't the first time burger king made some iffy statements about their products it actually goes all the way back to the introduction of the whopper in 1957 as they claimed it was quote an exclusive burger king creation the problem was that at least a year prior there was already a burger restaurant called the whopper shop in the state of michigan even more damning was a texas fast food chain called the whopper burger drive-in so not cool burger king not cool anyway the mcdonald's case with bk was eventually settled out of court at least for the 20 less meat debacle as they continued to produce even more slanderous commercials and even dealt some low blows to wendy's at this time we'd like to offer sympathy to mcdonald's and wendy now back to the burger king kingdom because as the 1990s approached the marvelous magical burger king campaign was failing to drive up sales among children i mean seriously would you want to go to a restaurant who had a mascot that resembled a guy named the child catcher i think not [Music] so rather than rework the mcdonald's land esque world and characters they decided to abandon them all together in favor of a different approach the idea was to surprise surprise copying mcdonald's once again or more specifically the synergy between their fictional characters and restaurant offerings but unlike mcdonald's their new campaign wouldn't be a bunch of bizarre non-human characters but something that would actually be relatable to kids no i said relatable to kids not terrifying the kids but we'll get to you soon enough sure you've got places to go people to see but why not pop over to burger king and find out how to join the kids club details are specified in the kids club newsletter the burger king kids club officially debuted in december of 1989 and from a marketing standpoint it really was quite the elaborate endeavor as far as the group itself there was kidvid who was obsessed with video games and technology and was by far the most prominently featured there was also boomer a sports loving tomboy who by my accounts was the second most featured within the group then there was iq in snaps a stereotypical nerd and a photography passionate blonde as a way to bring some diversity into the group was jaws a black male with an insatiable appetite last but not least was wheels a paraplegic who come to think of it he was just kind of there and in hindsight even the nickname wheels is pretty insensitive as if he's entirely defined by his disability not cool burger king not cool the new kid he's the fastest draw in town i'm looking for some breakfast a year or so later after the group was founded came jd the dog in lingo a quote hispanic who loved art the kid not the dog but the burger king kids club was more than a group of fictional kids to promote food offerings as they were part of an actual kids club one that children could actually join on top of receiving an official membership card every year on their birthday members got a special packet with games and a coupon for a free kids meal inside the store itself was the kids club adventures magazine which was essentially a free pamphlet featuring games puzzles and trivia along with information covering upcoming movies and merchandise however one of the most nostalgic elements of the kids club were of course the toys and as strange as it sounds it actually began with disney and mcdonald's now when you buy a 5 book of mcdonald's gift certificates you get a free plush musical ornament of oliver or dodger the characters from the new disney movie oliver and company you see in the 1980s mcdonald's became disney's go-to fast food chain for restaurant tie-ins especially in association with the happy meal but then came the live-action film dick tracy in which based on disney's confidence they'd be a massive hit mcdonald's put together a rather expensive and elaborate ad campaign unfortunately dick tracy drastically underperformed at the box office and the campaign wound up being a massive flop costing mcdonald's quite a bit financially so when it came to the prospect of future disney promotions mcdonald's kind of noped out of their partnership with the mouse however burger king was more than happy to take their place as it would also give them a chance to broaden their kids meal toys beyond just tv shows this was more or less like winning the fast food lottery as the disney renaissance era was just around the corner and though it technically began with the little mermaid and some might even say the great mouse detective beauty and the beast solidified it burger king invites you to meet the stars from walt disney's beauty and the beast now in theaters there's belle and the beast consworth and chip you can collect all four at burger king a new one each week when you buy a kids meal much like the film the toy integration with bk was incredibly profitable both for the restaurant and disney this was followed by another successful campaign with the little mermaid's vhs release after that was another lucrative promotion with aladdin and for this one the fast food franchise went all out but then came a little movie called the lion king which made the success of the prior disney integrations pale in comparison [Music] the king of burgers celebrates the lion king now in theaters with lion king size values like our dollar 99 hamburger kids meal with a lion king toy featuring disney's newest stars the lion king promotion at bk was so popular that it tripled the sales of the restaurant's kids club meals and was truly a fast food phenomenon in fact its popularity actually became a bit of a problem as within just one month into the six month campaign the initial batch of 30 million toys were completely sold out so until a new batch arrived they had to resort to cheap trading cards that were originally meant for distribution at amc theaters but the success of the lion king for bk went beyond just the initial campaign as within a single year they had not just one but two more campaigns which at the time was pretty unheard of this was the primary reason behind the disney mcdonald's partnership in 1997 as the mouse was pretty upset as to having missed out on all the fun aka money and was determined to not make the same mistake twice nevertheless burger king continued to thrive with other disney tie-ins such as pocahontas toy story the hunchback of notre dame and many more throughout the 90s and of course who can forget those iconic signature disney cops which i'm willing to bet you or your parents still have in their house to this day but it wasn't just the movies of disney that became synonymous with the bk kids club just to name a few there was rugrats the movie the land before time anastasia and small soldiers uh kind of you see small soldiers was supposed to be part of the kids club but when the film wound up receiving a hard pg-13 rating they had to switch gears fast so they simply became optional toys and were disassociated from the kids club itself but as a quick fun fact this led to the bk big kids club which allowed them to more freely promote other pg-13 films such as the beloved action comedy wild wild west the following year introducing the tasty new burger king big kids meal now your kids can get more of the great tasting food they like plus all the action and adventure of the new wild wild west movie now i could go on and on about all the other amazing movie tie-ins such as those awesome jurassic park watches the pokemon 23 carat gold cards and my personal favorite the lord of the rings the fellowship of the ring but to avoid making this a burger king toy nostalgia list video i'm going to force myself to move on you see upon entering the 2000s a new member was added to the bk kids club jazz an asian girl who loved music however by this point the actual kids of the kids club were rarely if ever used in the restaurant's advertising so her presence and how much she was actually used has become a bit of a mystery regardless by 2005 the kids club gang was officially retired and in their place were the very short-lived honbats there was mix max this or that bonnie chomp and the eeps but this was also around the time when major fast food chains were undergoing a lot of scrutiny especially for how they were advertising the children and for that you can mainly thank mcdonald's so by and large the hotbats signaled the end of an era at least when it came to the younger demographic because then came the return of the kang in the most bizarre way imaginable yes your time has finally come creepy king as the story goes a new advertising firm joined burger king and we're toying with the idea of resurrecting the original mascot specifically they wanted to find a way to make their new line of breakfast menu items really stick out from the competition aka mcdonald's so one day an executive for the ad firm was searching through ebay and stumbled upon the 1970s burger king king head for sale the head as it turns out actually came from a helium tank overlay that was used to blow up balloons throw in the tagline of wake up with the king and someone's brilliant albeit warped sense of humor came up with one of the most bizarre fast food campaigns of all time new the double crew sandwich the debut of the so-called creepy king was just what burger king needed to stand out amongst the competition and for nearly a decade was quite the pop culture phenomenon it was also a total 180 when it came to marketing i mean can you imagine ronald mcdonald literally stalking people in their houses and handing them big macs i don't think so the creepy king also occasionally appeared alongside iconic characters and movie tie-ins and in one of the most awkward integrations of all time promoted the spongebob squarepants kids club meal i like square butts and i cannot lie squid and sea star can't deny when a sponge walks in four corners like you got phone book implants the crowd shouts all the ladies ain't those pants are square okay what the absolute there were even xbox 360 video games produced starring the creepy burger king icon one of which and i swear i'm not making this up had you play as the burger king himself sneaking around and stalking unsuspecting pedestrians and offering them whoppers however six or seven years in it seems the shock value and appeal of the character began to wear thin as the burger king's creepy ruler was retired in 2011. although in recent years the king has made quite a few appearances and as of 2020 seems to have come out of retirement at least temporarily so unlike most episodes there's really no end to this story so if you were banking on a hard-hitting and epic conclusion i'm sorry to disappoint you however speaking of banking are you disappointed with all the hassles and frustrations of traditional banks well that's where current comes in see what i did there you see current isn't a bank but the future of mobile banking for quite a few reasons for one you could say goodbye to all those pesky overdraft fees for up to a hundred dollars you can also get paid up to two days faster than 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Channel: Yesterworld Entertainment

Views: 558,305

Keywords: yesterworld, Yesterworld: The Rise & Fall of the Burger King Kingdom - The BK Kids Club & ‘Creepy King’, The History of Burger King, The Burger King Kids Club, BK kids club, Burger King Toys, Burger King Disney toys, Burger King Creepy king, History of the BK Kids Club, Burger King 1990s, the history of the BK Kids Club, The Burger King Kingdom, History of Burger King toys, Burger King Disney, history of Burger King characters

Id: 2pvQVi3fV_M

Length: 25min 44sec (1544 seconds)

Published: Thu Sep 30 2021