Burger King's Huge 1980s Advertising Mistake

Successful fast food advertising campaigns can quickly become part of the common lexicon, like Wendy's humorous "Where's the beef?" commercials. But a contemporary ad campaign from rival Burger King became the stuff of legend as a poorly planned and executed flop that led to a temporary collapse in profits.

In late 1985, Burger King launched the $40 million "Where's Herb?" campaign, also known as Herb the Nerd, with ads speaking of an uncool man named Herb in hushed tones, as though his friends and family were ashamed of him for never eating a Whopper. The ads did a good job of building intrigue, but, in the first sign of trouble, it was initially unclear about what since the ads often did not mention burgers or Burger King. One man actually named Herb thought the vague messages were a threat from his loan sharks.

Herb's location and identity remained unresolved for weeks. But customers could get a $0.99 Whopper if they told the cashier "I'm not Herb," or if their name actually was Herb, the mouthful "I am not the Herb you're looking for." Sales went up, but the concept remained muddled: How did the discount burger tie into his identity or location? And why did one of the secret phrases sound like a Star Wars reference?

Burger King stoked its own palace intrigue over Herb with a surge of ads and promotional tie-ins leading up to Super Bowl XX in January 1986. Taking advantage of the media attention around the game, Burger King held a 'press conference' to formally introduce the Herb of legend: an actor portraying a charmless, forgettable, middle-aged man.

In retrospect, it's perhaps obvious that a character whom advertisements portrayed as the ultimate in uncool would not have a lot of stage presence once presented. The highlight of the paid promotional press conference was the surprise revelation that, of course, Herb finally tried a Whopper and he loved it. Audiences shrugged.

With ad blitzes before and after the mediocre press conference, customers were oversaturated with Herb, a man they didn't care much about, and were now asked to locate at their local Burger King restaurant for a chance to win some cash. Some people did partake in this contest, but poor communication soon created new headaches for Burger King.

After the Super Bowl, Herb toured Burger Kings nationwide, and if a customer correctly identified him, they would win $5,000. Not only that, but every customer who was in every restaurant during a confirmed Herb sighting was entered to win a $1 million grand prize.

However, the ads were not clear that winners had to be at least 16 years old to claim a prize. A handful of underage winners who were denied the money caused a public relations headache for Burger King. After one such instance, the Alabama state senate passed a resolution declaring the "Where's Herb?" campaign a consumer fraud.

The controversial headlines, coupled with lower-than-expected consumer interest in the prize, led to an overall slump in sales. Herb the Nerd joined the pantheon of fast food flops as Burger King profits fell 40% after the promotion. Burger King also terminated its relationship with the advertising agency responsible, J. Walter Thompson, which was bought out by a rival the following year.  Despite Herb the Nerd's trail of waste and destruction, luckily for Burger King, he lacked the viral staying power of the foot lettuce, and sales soon recovered.