BURGER KING® competitor’s mascot – Ronald McDonald – happens to be a clown. So when we realized that the most famous horror clown of all time – Pennywise from Stephen King’s “IT” – would return to theatres in September 2017, we saw an opportunity to draw people away from McDonald’s, reminding them of what we knew all along: clowns are not to be trusted. So we hijacked the horror film of the year and turned it into BURGER KING’s® longest ad ever. Becoming the first brand turning a whole feature film into an in-cinema ad and stretching the boundaries of this medium by going viral.

On the evening of the German pre-premiere of Stephen King’s horror remake “IT”, we let the clown spread fear and horror until the audience had enough. Right when the credits were about to roll, we used just two powerful spotlights to show our message on screen to the targeted audience. Saying: “The moral is: Never trust a clown.” followed by a BURGER KING® logo. Even though it was a unique stunt in just one cinema the message spread globally. A video of the stunt was posted via social media and generated buzz around the globe within hours. Turning “IT” into BURGER KING’s® longest PR-stunt ever. And warning the audience about creepy clowns and thereby indirectly about our biggest competitor – without naming them once.

As the video of our PR stunt went viral, we managed to generate a worldwide buzz and created brand awareness. Within just 72 hours, LOVING “IT” achieved over 1 billion impressions and press coverage on 5 continents, earning 10 million Euros in media value. On social media, the online film generated over 12 million impressions itself making it BURGER KING® Germany’s most liked, shared and commented PR ad to date.