Burger me, that's a Whopper of a reaction.

Burger King’s pulled off something that’s getting them more attention than the usual burger ad. And a lot more attention than anti-fast food groups are getting in the US. Justifiably, the British Heart Foundation will probably hate it.

This week the British Heart Foundation have called for a ban on all junk food advertising to kids - well after the last Burger King ad – the 1000 calorie whopper - who can blame them. Not surprisingly BHF have highlighted how junk food companies are using the internet to get to kids.

Well eat your heart out your junk food lovers, the King has pulled off a whopper and one that’s got the tongues wagging and lots of fat Americans chomping at the bit. In fact it’s become one of the best recalled ads in the US in five years and one of the most searched for on YouTube and Google.

BK did a small experiment in a Las Vegas restaurant in the US. They told all the customer that BK had stopped selling the Whopper. Now some of us might just go, “oh well, I’ll have the healthy salad option then,” but this is America and just like any reality show they got upset. Really upset.

The whole experiment was secretly filmed. They even used fake reporters to interview upset customers as they left the store. The passion for the Whopper may be amusing but to some of us who share the BHF’s concerns about the growing obesity rate, it’s frightening.

There are a number of other versions on YouTube as well – check out Ward and Juan, a fired professor and a CU drop out, you can’t write this stuff. This is real people advertising without the glam of the Dove ads. The Ghetto versions are brilliant too.

http://www.whopperfreakout.com (or put Whopper Freakout into YouTube).

It’s a frightening stat that over 1 million people suffer from Malnutrition in the UK. Now we are not talking about starvation due to lack of food but due to lack of vital nutrients due to poor diet.

The other day I was working from home and made the big mistake of going to the shops as my local secondary school finished. I was at first puzzled as I passed long queues outside all my local fast food places. The real shocker was that these kids weren’t buying their evening meal but a 1000 calorie snack. You may well have guessed that most of these kids are overweight.

Just a simple observation being dyslexic. FAST FOOD and FATS FOOD look the same to us. How ironic.

Bottled water in deep water

My great grandfather said that if you could sell water and get suckers to buy it you’d be a millionaire. Well that was long before Perrier came on the scene. Now the industry is worth $35 billion pa with Americans spending more on water than petrol. But a new campaign, ‘tappening’, backed by religious groups, city authorities and NGOs in the US is now a major threat that could kill off many water brands.

Many people believe that bottled water is a healthy option – well that’s the effect of good marketing. In fact most bottled waters wouldn’t meet the tough regulations for tap water, though ironically 25% of bottled water is actually water from municipal water supplies. Just to highlight what a con bottled water is, one well known brand comes from a well on an industrial estate next to a toxic waste dump  (though the picture of a mountain on the label doesn’t give that impression).

But now those with more money than sense (and probably a MPV) are having to rethink their buying habits.

Bottles are out – 2008 will see the rug pulled out from under the bottled water industry. Already it’s loosing water cooler share of the corporate and food services market as filtered tap water dispensers are making major inroads (though more because of cost savings than environmentalism).

From transport to manufacture to landfill, bottles (both plastic and glass) are being seen as ungreen. Bottled water is the new enemy of the green movement.

The ‘tappening’ campaign is encouraging people to drink only tap water and to send a green message to the bottled water industry about its extreme waste of fossil fuels and resultant pollution of the earth. Two agencies in the US, DiMassimo Goldstein and Ericho Communications, have created a message in a bottle campaign with the slogan ‘Think Global, Drink Local.’

They have already sent thousands of bottles to Coca-Cola CEO Muhtar Kent and are aiming to send a million (though I think Coke has already got the point).

Several States have jumped on the green bandwagon and tried to ban bottled water (San Francisco has banned it in all city offices). Chicago has been the first major city to levy a ‘sin tax’ - a five cent tax on each bottle of water sold, which could generate over $10 million for the city council (that might be something our Ken could try in London).

San Francisco and New York, have both been encouraging residents to drink more tap water, while UNICEF has been running a campaign in the States to get people back to the tap and off the bottle. Many restaurants are also moving over to filtered tap water as drinking bottle water is starting to be seen as socially unacceptable in some circles as smoking.

Finally, one of the strangest backers of ‘tappening’ is the Catholic church’s Janet Corcoran, known as the Green Franciscan Sister. She’s encouraging religious groups across the US to join the movement – it seems bottled water is the work of the devil and tap water is mother nature’s gift.

See www.tappening.com

Americans put greenwash ads on the stand.

Last year saw a flood of greenwash ads from car, utility and food companies as well as bogus claims and promises from many other areas. The ASA upheld loads of complaints. It seems the US is just as bad. But now in the US they have launched the Greenwash Index, a place where bogus claims (or being economical with the truth) get scrutinised by the public. 

The site has been launched by the advertising faculty of the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication and ethical agency, EnviroMedia Social Marketing, and puts the power of judge and jury into the hands of the buying public.

It’s aim is to empower consumers and shame brands who think they can make false claims or imply ethical credentials through spin and unlikely promises - like we are going to reduce our CO2 emission by 2020 because that’s so far away you’ll have forgotten this claim by them. (Bet that UK energy company won’t be recycling their ads then!)

For those that make truly authentic claims it’s probably a site to be seen on (I’m sure Recopak are doing well from the site). But for a number of brands it’s probably the last place they want to be. Chevolet, Lexus, Toyota and Honda are all there with BP.

The BP ‘Beyond’ ad is actually not greenwash as it says nothing at all. An eye candy compilation of images with no message. However, their biofuels ad features a man who is very excited about biofuels (I think he also gets very excited about tractors!).

Lexus hybrid have also made a compilation of nice stock footage ad with a ‘h is for…’ theme. Again, like the BP ad it says nothing. Maybe this is the new style of eco ads in the States – say nothing then no one can slag you off. The Honda hybrid ad, by contract, is just a terrible ad, which in some ways worse than being greenwash.

The one that is top of the polls, and is so unbelievable it could only be written by Homer Simpson, is a large billboard in Pennsylvania that declares that COAL is GREEEN CLEAN ENERGY. D’oh!

In several blogs last year I highlighted the folly of false green claims and the dangers of ‘brand terrorism’ on the web (punters exposing your false claims and bringing down your brand). The truth has a way of catching you out, especially on the internet, and it can cost a lot more than the money you spent spinning fake green claims. Reputations once damaged are hard to rebuild.

Yet this year we are already seeing green spin ads on the TV. Sadly I think we are going to see a lot more greenwash ads unless the BACC and ASA tightens up it’s controls over false eco claims.

Maybe we should set up a similar site in the UK where we can all judge ads honestly. Could this be a new area for Brand Republic?

On a final note, those visiting the website of EnviroMedia site might like to check out the DJ Duck Mixer. Who says tree huggers don’t have a sense of fun.