Miguel Chavez

Aaron Benedetti
UWP 1
February 12, 2016
Burger King Over McDonald's
Almost anyone in the United States knows about McDonald's and Burger King and their
rivalry. Many people prefer Burger King and others prefer McDonalds. Due to people's
preferences, these two fast food chains try to bring in more people to visit by advertising
themselves as having the better food choices. In this example, we see a clown dressed up in a
long garb and hat, very mysterious like, and ordering food from a Burger King. But more
specifically, the clown is actually Ronald McDonald the mascot from McDonalds, one of Burger
Kings competitors, ordering food. The creators of this advertisement, Burger King, are targeting
the American people in order to try and convince consumers that Burger King is a better option
over McDonalds and get more people to go to Burger King by using irony, emotional appeals
and maneuvering as well as manipulating their consumers into going to Burger King.
People could argue that this image is ineffective in making its points. Consumers could
say statements like Maybe he just wanted Burger King or This doesnt mean anything, that
can be just a random clown. However what these people fail to realize is the fact that the order
was placed while wearing a trench coat and a hat. These two items are usually associated with
being secretive and going undercover. If it was a random clown, why is the clown wearing those
two items? There is no need to be secretive. If it is Ronald and he wants Burger King, why is he
doing it in secret if he does not have to? There are many ways to interpret this image and this is
what these people could be thinking. There are many other counter examples that these people
could make but the one thing someone should consider is that it is actually Ronald McDonald
before making arguments and trying to counter arguments as well. With the text on the bottom
right saying Its just that good can make someone further assume that it is Ronald just with
assumptions and clues.
That aside, the first example and probably the most notable example of Burger King
trying to attract consumers to favor their establishment over McDonalds in this advertisement is
the use of irony. Ronald McDonald is a well known figure in todays world for anyone that enjoys
fast food. So when consumers come across this advertisement, the first thing they are going to
notice is the clown dressed in a trench coat wearing a hat. At first glance one would realize that
its actually Ronald McDonald ordering food. The execution of this advertisement is also great.
There are almost no words in this ad except for on the bottom right that says It just tastes
better. Nothing in this ad is telling someone to go out and go to Burger King but despite that this
ad displays well to its consumer what it is that it is trying to do, which is get more people to go to
Burger King and not McDonalds. Burger King is essentially trying to sell their brand as superior
to McDonald's while illustrating that their brand has the better tasting food. Not only that, but the
Burger King symbol is directly in the center of the image so a consumer immediately knows its
Burger King. The employee is smiling and happily taking the customers order. The fact that its
Ronald McDonald that placed an order is the shocking and surprising part that grabs peoples
attention and pulls them in. The irony in this is that Ronald McDonald is a mascot from a rival
competitor. By having their rival mascot be in their ad, this actively includes the opposing
company and challenges them. Including the opposing companys mascot allows Burger King to
show who their competitors are for consumers to see and to demonstrate their purpose of how
their brand is superior to McDonalds. Not only that, people dont think of Ronald McDonald or
have any mention of him in Burger King. Ronald McDonald should be trying to advertise his
company more or be ordering food from his company. The message here is that since Ronald
McDonald is undercover, ordering food from a rival company, means that he likes Burger King
and with the text in the bottom right, it further enforces this. Nothing else of significance is
shown in the picture, only inferences and assumptions can be made. Through the use of Irony,
Burger King is able to effectively portray their goal which is to attract more consumers to go to
Burger King and present their brand as being above and superior, yet they accomplish this
without really showing or doing much.
The second way in which Burger King tries to achieve their purpose of getting an
increase of customers to visit their restaurants over McDonalds is by pathos, consumers
emotions. Consumers know Ronald McDonald belongs to rival company McDonalds and
seeing their mascot at Burger King makes consumers question why he is even there. There is
some humor in this advertisement that can bring out some chuckles from consumers. Burger
King and McDonalds compete against each other constantly and makes ads and commercials
to try and gather more consumers to visit their restaurants over the other. More consumers
going to one restaurant means more profit for one company and obviously less for the rival
company. But if any consumer sees this ad they will see Ronald McDonald dressed up in the
trench coat and hat and the consumer would put two and two together and realize that Ronald is
going undercover and doesnt want to be see seen since he is buying food from his competitors.
This can be funny to a lot of people. This ad could bring out a laugh or two or maybe a chuckle
from consumers saying things like Thats funny , What is he doing there? or Thats
unexpected. Me personally, I would have gone to Burger King just because they actually made
me chuckle and many other consumers could have had the same thought process as me as
well. Burger king is taking a shot at McDonald's, one of their top competitors, but they do it in a
way that isnt threatening or offensive. There is little going on in this picture and almost no words
and yet it is still able to have humor and draw out some laughs. That being said, this ad is able
to use humor to draw peoples attention to this ad to garner more people to choose Burger King
over McDonalds. By making people laugh with this ad, it draws attention to Burger Kings brand
causing consumers to notice Burger King and want to go there while also trying to make their
brand seem better. Unlike the previous example, the humor in this ad serves as a light hearted
approach to gather more consumers. Since Ronald McDonald from McDonalds is going to
Burger King, that means Burger King must have better food. This could just be one thought out
of many on what people could be thinking.
A third way Burger King is able to illustrate their purpose is by establishing their
authority. They have been in the fast food business for a good amount of time and have been
competing with McDonalds for a long time. They know what they are doing and have and have
made multiple advertisements before to appeal and attract consumers. As a result, Burger King
is allowed to make this ad because they have to compete with McDonalds. As to why Burger
King is allowed to make this ad, it's the way the ad is presented and structured allowing the
audience to understand. Burger King wants to target their rivals and challenge them to try and
increase their sales while also making their brand seem better. In this ad, they have a clown that
is ordering food that is obviously Ronald McDonald. However it is not explicitly said that it is, but
it is implied and assumed that it is based on the little text there is and the way the ad is
presented. Any consumer with a knowledge of fast food would know what is going on. Not only
that, Burger King is tainting and messing with the McDonalds brand bringing in their mascot
and coincidentally, Burger King excludes their mascot the King. Burger King could have used
their mascot instead of a random employee serving McDonalds mascot to make their brand
seem better but they didnt. This could be seen as Burger King implying that their brand is better
since they dont need use their mascot. Including the King mascot could have had a bigger
impact because having him serve Ronald can have the implication of Burger King saying Our
food is so much better, that our mascot can serve our rival happily. They try to make an opinion
into a fact. But since Burger King doesnt include their mascot, it could interpreted as Burger
King saying that they dont need their mascot because they can just let their food do the talking.
A final way that Burger King is able to convey their purpose is by maneuvering and trying
to manipulate their consumers into going to Burger King over their rival competitor McDonald's.
In this image, Ronald is ordering food from their competitors Burger King while he is doing it
undercover so he is not recognized. Gee defines a discourse as, ... a sort of identity kit which
comes complete with the appropriate costume and instructions on how to act, talk, and often
write, so as to take on a particular role that others will recognize(Gee). Ronald has to act a
certain way because of how his company wants him to act. But he goes against his company
and does something behind their backs and orders food from their rivals. Ronald does not want
to be seen since him ordering food from Burger King can be interpreted as him preferring to eat
food from Burger King over McDonald's. Basically, Burger King is trying to manipulate
consumers to go to Burger King by having the face of McDonalds going to Burger King and
ordering food making it seem like their food is superior and better tasting. Having the face of a
company turn their back on a company and purchase from their competitors can only be
interpreted as them not liking their own companies products and preferring others. However,
one can argue that Ronald maybe just wanted to go to Burger King and this can apply to other
businesses as well. There is nothing saying that someone cant buy from a rival company. It
doesnt make make sense but it can happen. The fact that Ronald does this in a trench coat and
hat means that he doesnt want to be seen can be understood as him liking competitors
products over his own companies. Hiding things or going undercover makes people suspicious.
Not only that, Ronald could also be lying to himself and be putting down Burger King saying
McDonalds is better. But secretly, he is going to Burger King in disguise, maybe under a
different name, so nobody recognizes him and contradicting himself. After putting down Burger
King, he then goes to Burger King? That doesnt add up. In the end, Burger King uses
psychology by portraying the face of McDonald Ronald ordering food from Burger King to make
consumers think that Ronald prefers Burger King over McDonalds. In this way, Burger King can
sway peoples opinions and increase the amount of people going to Burger King.
In the end, Burger King is showing us their purpose of getting more consumers to visit
their chain of restaurants over their other competitor McDonalds. Burger King is able to
achieve this by using irony, pathos or emotional appeals, and by maneuvering consumers. In
general, advertisements are the best way to catch consumers attention and making ads
amusing and entertaining in some way is also the best way to draw in consumers. If ads are
entertaining, it sparks curiosity in consumers which then causes those consumers to then visit
and potentially buy from the company that presented that ad. The more entertaining an ad is,
the higher the chance consumers are to notice a company and their products. If a company or
brand is competing with another and both have made new ads, the one with the more
entertaining or unique ad will have the upper hand. In this case, that's what Burger King pulled
off. As a result, Burger King did an adequate job of illustrating their purpose and goal.
 Works Cited
Gee, James Paul. Journal of Education. 1st ed. Vol. 171. N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. Ser. 1989.
Literacy, Discourse, And Linguistics: Introduction. Web.