The Burger King

About

The Burger King is the advertising mascot for the international fast-food chain Burger King. After appearing in several television commercials, he was used in a variety of YTMNDs, video remixes and image macros often paired with the caption "where is your God now?"

Origin

The Burger King mascot was first introduced on a sign at the original Burger King restaurant in Miami, Florida in 1955. An animated King character was used in a series of commercials in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The animated King was replaced by the red-bearded "Marvelous Magical Burger King" in the late 1970s which paralleled McDonald's "Ronald McDonald" ad campaign.

On January 22nd, 2004, Burger King announced that the Miami-based advertising firm Crispin Portor + Bogusky (CP+B) will be developing ad campaigns for the chain restaurant. Later that year, the company launched a campaign with a new Burger King character called “the King." According to the news site Slate^[3], the mascot's oversized head was inspired by a helium tank fixture found on eBay by an agency employee who was looking for inspirations.

The first commercial “Wake Up With the King” aired in October 2004, featuring a man waking up in bed next to the King offering him a breakfast sandwich. After a series of commercials with similar scenarios were aired, the mascot became referred to as the “Creepy King” with one of the earliest references posted on the conservative politics board Free Republic^[5] on October 25th, 2005. The creepy persona was embraced by Burger King and it became a main trait of the King in the promotional XBOX game “Sneak King."

Spread

The first King-related YTMND^[6] was created by user ilpadrino86 on March 28th, 2005, featuring a photo of the King with the caption “where is your god now?” This instance spawned an entire YTMND fad that portrays The King competing against the rival fast-food chain McDonald’s mascot Ronald McDonald.

According to the YTMND Wiki^[7], the King fad inspired the creation of several more fads including "It's Behind"^[8], which replaced an alien with the King from the sci-fi movie Signs, and Ultimate Bedsides Surprise,^[9] which placed the King in a scene from the 1987 horror film Prince of Darkness.

The first Urban Dictionary^[4] definition for "where is your god now" was submitted by user Stefan Gagne on June 1st, 2005 and referenced the Burger King mascot.

A common phrase tagged onto an image or web page so terrifyingly weird that it makes you question if god exists. Most often seen associated with the rubber-faced Burger King mascot. Also appears in religious sources (Psalm 42:3, 10; 115:2) and in a famous fictional debate between reason and faith.

On February 5th, 2006, the King appeared in a Burger King commercial called "the Whopperettes" featuring actress Brooke Burke during Super Bowl XL which referenced the mascot as "Creepy King."

Retirement

On August 19th, 2011, USA Today^[11] reported that Burger King replaced CP+G with a new agency and would no longer be using the King character as a mascot. The same day, the story was posted by BuzzFeed^[10] and a compilation of Burger King animated GIFs was published on the entertainment site Screen Junkies.^[12]

Notable Examples

Search Interest

Search queries for both "creepy king" and "the burger king" saw a sharp spike in October of 2005, the same month the BK Joe commercial was aired.

External References