Where's Herb?

Campaign

When the commercials were created, Burger King was suffering due to poor marketing. The new promotion was designed to counter the successful marketing efforts of McDonald's, who were spending an estimated US$80 to 100 million to promote the McDLT (McDonald's Lettuce and Tomato), and of Wendy's, which had found success with its "Where's the beef?" commercials. The Herb commercials, launched in November 1985, Donald Dempsey, Thompson's Executive Vice President of Marketing, oversaw the creation of the campaign, and it continued under the direction of Tom Sawyer, the company's Vice President of Marketing. Before settling on the name Herb, the firm considered such names as Mitch and Oscar.

The campaign began with three weeks of "cryptic" messages designed to create interest in the promotion. Herb was mentioned in newspaper advertisements, on banners at football games, and in flyers distributed to the public. On November 24, 1985, the first commercials were aired on CBS, NBC, and ABC. The premise of the commercials was that Herb was the only person in the United States who had not eaten a Whopper from Burger King. The advertising agency created a fictional biography for the character, claiming that he was raised in Wisconsin, had worked in a cheese factory, and had also sold decoy ducks. The character is commonly referred to as "Herb the Nerd".

The Herb character was played by actor Jon Menick, who would randomly appear at Burger King restaurants nationwide. Herb's identity was not revealed until Super Bowl XX in January 1986; If a customer spotted Herb at a Burger King, they would win $5,000. All customers in the restaurant when Herb was discovered were also entered into a drawing for the promotion's grand prize of $1 million. The draw was won by Christopher Kelly of Louisville, Kentucky, who was present when Herb was spotted at the Burger King in the city's Oxmoor Center mall.

In addition to encouraging people to search for Herb, Burger King added an "I'm not Herb" promotion to their marketing campaign. Because Burger King claimed to be angry at Herb for not eating at their restaurants, they offered a 99-cent Whopper hamburger to everybody except Herb. To get the discounted price, customers had to say, "I'm not Herb" while ordering. Customers named Herb were told to say, "I'm not the Herb you're looking for". Other restaurants, including Wendy's, capitalized on the promotion by advertising that Herb ate at their locations.

Reception

The promotion met with some positive reviews. Time called it "clever", The US$200 million account was given to N. W. Ayer.

The World Wrestling Federation had Herb appear as a guest timekeeper during the boxing match between Roddy Piper and Mr. T at WrestleMania 2 at the Nassau Coliseum on April 7, 1986. Clara Peller, the star of the "Where's the beef?" commercials from Wendy's, also appeared at the event, working as guest timekeeper during a battle royal.

References

References

1. Schoifet, Mark. (1996-01-01). "Herb falls flat, but Wendy's breaks another winner".
2. Bernstein, Charles. (1986-01-20). "Burger King's Herb: a true national hero".
3. Schoifet, Mark. (1985-11-25). "Burger King unleashes ads, PR stunts introducing 'Herb'".
4. (1986-02-03). "Herb Comes Out of Hiding".
5. Hartlaub, Peter. (2007-01-26). "The 10 worst Super Bowl ads of all time". NBC News.
6. Carlino, Bill. (1990-03-12). "Franchisees on BK campaign: has potential but needs work".
7. Hofstede, David. (2004). "What Were They Thinking? The 100 Dumbest Events in Television History". Back Stage Books.
8. Wieting, Stephen G.. (2001). "Sport and Memory in North America". Routledge.
9. Petras, Kathryn. (2003). "Unusually Stupid Americans: A Compendium of All-American Stupidity". Random House of Canada.
10. (1986-05-12). "Herb Is a Grinch".
11. Reynolds, R.D.. (2007). "The Wrestlecrap Book of Lists!". ECW Press.
12. (1986-05-15). "Christopher Kelly to receive $1 million in the Burger King "Million Dollar Search for Herb" contest". PR Newswire.
13. New York. New York Magazine Co.. (1985)
14. Berg, Eric N.. (1998-11-14). "Company News; Burger King's Angry Franchisees: Page Two". The New York Times.
15. Dumaine, Brian. (1987-11-23). "A CEO Bake-Off at Pillsbury".
16. "WrestleMania 2". World Wrestling Entertainment.
17. Walker, Linden. "WrestleMania II review". Wrestling Observer Newsletter/Figure Four.