Burger King's moldy Whopper ad is dividing marketing experts
www.cnbc.com
Burger King made headlines when it launched its latest ad — showing a Whopper going moldy — on Wednesday. But featuring mold in a food ad breaks all the rules of meal promotion, which usually involves beautifully-shot items that have been set up by stylists. CNBC spoke to several experts to get their reactions.

TIL that in 2020, Burger King ran an advertising campaign featuring a picture of a moldy Whopper, to prove that their burgers are made without preservatives. This unconventional advertising method worked, increasing sales by 14% (according to multiple sources.)

  • LazaroFilm@lemmy.worldEnglish
    101·
    5 months ago

    The biggest issue is, if it can’t mold, then there’s no way to know if you’re eating a fresh burger or one that was left out for a week. The reason it doesn’t mold is because they dehydrate the food so mold can’t grow without moisture. That also degrades a lot of proteins that would be good to consume. Dehydrated not molding food is good for ration food, not for comfort food.

    • P00ptart@lemmy.worldEnglish
      6·
      5 months ago

      That’s partially true. They use dehydrated onions but their buns and meat are never dehydrated. So that leaves a lot to be explained. The “meat” is heavily salted and frozen, as well as having a lot of cellulose (“wood pulp”) in it. The waxy paper wrapping also has a lot to do with it not degrading, as it makes it harder for bugs to get to. If you left a McDonald’s burger outside without the wrapper, better believe it’ll be mostly gone within a day or two.