View source for The Burger King

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[[File:bk_crowncardTheKing_en_01.png|frame|Want some fries with that, little boy?]]

{{quote|''"The 1970s Burger King was rather down-to-earth and somewhat amusing. Today's king looks more like a perverted and creepy moving sculpture who engages in porno."''|[[YouTube]] user '''[[There Is No Such Thing as Notability|kti05hnu58]]'''}}

Burger King, the fast food establishment, isn't all that trope-worthy on their own. They're the second-largest hamburger chain in the United States, they have a global presence, and they're subject to several [[Stock Parody|stock parodies]], along with their major competitors.

That said, they've also created an advertising icon — "The" Burger King. And he's a whole other story entirely....

[[The Burger King]] started off humbly enough. He was Burger King's answer to Ronald McDonald, and he appeared in both [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4yWP6DMhgo live-action] and [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Al1GZyS-dRw animated] forms. He came off as a bit of a [[Cloudcuckoolander]], but was otherwise benign. However, he was quite forgettable and quickly faded into obscurity.

Fast forward a few decades, and Burger King decided to bring their mascot out of mothballs. This time, though, he became... much more [[Uncanny Valley|disturbing]] and [[Darker and Edgier|adult]]. Now a guy in an obviously plastic mask right out of ''kigurumi'' and royal finery, he started appearing in ads aimed at adults. By appearing where you probably weren't expecting him. Like [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCSv4zNkFhw at a construction site]. Or [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sl0b12baPjU pole dancing]. Or, most famously, ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4_5qoy4oaQ in your bedroom]''. Simultaneously disturbing and amusing, the ads took off.

How much so? The Burger King managed to work his way into ''three'' different video games (granted, made specifically as an in-store promotion, but still). He's also managed to become a pop culture icon, of sorts—you can buy the mask. He's had the occasional [[YouTube Poop]] appearance, too. There's also his... [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5X4TSbGreA interesting...] new video about [[SpongeBob SquarePants]]. Disturbing, hilarious, or some combination thereof, he's certainly memorable.

As of 2011, Burger King has [[Screwed by the Network|decided to]] [http://blogs.wsj.com/privateequity/2011/08/19/farewell-to-the-king-california-whopper-not-mascot-will-star-in-bk-ad retire the mascot.]

Not to be confused with [[Elvis Presley|the King of Rock 'n' Roll]], [[Michael Jackson|the King of Pop]], [[Eminem|the King of Controversy]], [[Jack Kirby|the King of Dots]], [[Homestar Runner|the King of Town]], [[Katamari Damacy|the King of All Cosmos]], [[Howard Stern|the King of All Media]], [[The Legend of Zelda CDI Games|the King (MAH BOI)]], [[Tyrannosaurus Rex|the King of Dinosaurs]] or [[Jerry Lawler|the King of WWE]], though they all enjoy their DINNER.

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{{creatortropes}}
* [[Anything That Moves]]: Men, women, [[SpongeBob SquarePants|sponges]]... Is there anything he hasn't made overtures towards?
** [[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy|Hyperintelligent sentient shades of the color blue]]?
* [[Characterization Marches On]]: Compare the early versions of him to the current one.
* [[Double Entendre]]: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmuv37vA8eU Meat... on top of meat... on top of meat!]
* [[ET Gave Us Wi-Fi]]: As part of a ''[[Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen]]'' tie in, with a Cybertronian King who gave the secret to delicious hamburgers to Burger King founders Keith J. Kramer and Matthew Burns in 1953 in exchange for a place to live. Naturally, he transforms into a broiler.
* [[Gender Equals Breed]]: In one commercial, he is shown with a human wife and daughter, and a son who has a mask for a face.
* [[Hey, It's That Guy!|Hey, It's That Guy]]: Many have remarked on the King's similarity to Howard Eskin
* [[I Can't Believe It's Not Heroin!]]: One of the UK adverts has a man craving burgers, after being offered one by the King, making the King look like a drug dealer on top of everything else that is wrong with the mascot.
* [[Mars Needs Women]]: The ''[[Star Trek (film)|Star Trek]]'' tie-in: "My ''[[Star Trek (film)|Star Trek]]'' collector cups! Why don't you just take my girlfriend, too? ...Great."
** Should note, there ''was'' a female Kingon, so it was more of a "[[Sure Why Not]]."
* [[Mentos Finger]]
* [[Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot]]: Various movie tie-ins have given us [[Star Trek (film)|Kingons]], a [[Transformers (film)|Deceptiking]] (or maybe an [http://tfwiki.net/wiki/King Autoking], we can't tell), and an [[Iron Man (film)|Iron King]].
* [[Notable Commercial Campaigns]]: People do tend to remember these ads. No matter how hard they try otherwise.
* [[Paper-Thin Disguise]]: An [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnV9e5h2N2E ad] where The Burger King steals the blueprint of the Egg McMuffin from [[McDonald's]] HQ has him wearing a hoodie and a literal paper mask (that looks identical to his regular face).
* [[The Power of Cheese|The Power Of Egg And Meat And Cheese And Meat And Cheese!]]
* [[Refuge in Audacity]]: Some of these ads seem like an attempt to see what you can get away with in television advertising. This perhaps reached its apex in the aforementioned ''SpongeBob'' kids meals ads, in which an edited version appeared after [[Watershed]], and the unedited version is only available on [[YouTube]].
** In a recent commercial for his new breakfast something-or-other, the King breaks into McDonald's HQ and steals ''their'' breakfast something-or-other. The narrator himself even says as much. [[Despair Event Horizon|And we're just supposed to accept this.]]
*** For an old McDonald's ad decrying the Croissanwich with the song "The Great Pretender", this is [[Hilarious in Hindsight]].
* [[Rubber Forehead Aliens]]: ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20140208161838/http://www.whenkingonsattack.com/ Kingons!]''
* [[Shout-Out]]: In the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dompotjTeIA very funny spoof] of the ''[[Twilight (novel)|Twilight]]'' trailer, Bella says that she's only afraid of two things: losing Edward, and "that Burger King guy -- he really freaks me out."
* [[Slogans]]: Wake up with The King!
** But [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQz3pv6aMtA&feature=related don't go to bed before him!]
* [[Stepford Smiler]]
* [[Uncanny Valley]]: The older incarnations avoid this, but the latest version seems to be invoking this intentionally.
* [[Zoofights]]: The king has not actually appeared, but one of the contestants, the revamped Burgertherium, at one point was fitted with his mask to hide what had been done to his face. It came off during the fight; the readers [[Take Our Word for It|never saw it]], but the spectators did. Quoth one: "That face is... ''ugh''... if my remaining biological systems had the ability to vomit, I would be doing so right now."

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[[Category:Notable Campaigns]]
[[Category:Advertising Tropes]]
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