News

BK ad done in jest, bureau rules

August 26, 2010

A group of 13 people in New Zealand filed a complaint to the Commercial Approvals Bureau (CAB) against Burger King, claiming one of its TV advertisements was offensive to vegetarians.

The ad supports BK's new "Rebel Burger," saying "It's so good, even the most dedicated vegetarians could turn ..."

According to the New Zealand Herald, the complaint was not upheld by the Advertising Standards Authority.

The group of complaintants argued the ad "belittled" vegetarianism, citing that many people are vegetarian for religious reasons and that the ad was equivalent to saying the burger could make a Muslim change eating practices while observing Ramadan.

Antares Restaurant Group Ltd., the agency that created the ad, countered the complaint, saying the ad was designed to be hyperbolic.

The CAB ruled that, although the complaintants had sincere concerns about their vegetarianism being undermined, the claim to religious propriety over vegetarianism is "unbalanced and potentially unjust." The CAB added that the advertiser did use a level of humor and satire in the piece and was not in breach of the code of ethics.

This is not the first time an international BK ad has been challenged. In 2009, bloggers worldwide criticized an ad that ran in Singapore for having overt sexual references.

In July, British consumers complained that a BK ad was misleading about the size of the company's tendercrisp chicken burger.