Competitive eater Takeru Kobayashi stars in Fitzgerald and Co.’s new spot for Checkers/Rally’s, promoting the chain’s new $1 fries offering by doing what he does best.
If you’re unfamiliar, Kobayashi is the Japanese competitive eater who won the Nathan’s Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Competition sixth consecutive years before a contractual dispute prevented him from competing. He showed up to the event in 2010 and was arrested after appearing on stage. Kobayashi also holds the world record for eating 110 bunless hot dogs in 10 minutes at the New York State Fair.
The spot opens with a warning not to attempt what you’re about to witness. From there, it’s pretty much just Kobayashi stuffing his face with fries for 60 seconds.
While certainly impressive in its way, we’re not sure it’s the best way to advertise the fast food chain. On the one hand, yeah, all those fries would have only cost Kobayashi five bucks. On the other hand, many people will probably find it pretty gross (although not nearly as gross as eating 57 cow brains in 15 minutes, another Kobayashi record), as competitive eating doesn’t exactly have the most broad appeal. Those viewers may stay away from such indulgences as a result. But hey, what do we know? Maybe there’s a correlation between Checkers customers and competitive eating fans.
Credits:
Advertising Agency: Fitzgerald & Co., Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Chief Creative Officer: Noel Cottrell
Executive Creative Directors: Mitch Bennett, Wes Whitener
Associate Creative Director: Jean Tanis
Creative Director: Dave Gordon
Copywriter: Max Schein
Art Director: Joe Abruzzo
Director, Editor: Tom Rittenhouse
Head of Integrated Production: Christine Sigety
Producer: David Berngartt
Chief Media Officer: Liz Daney
Group Media Director: Anna Sherrill
Assistant Media Director, Digital: Jessica Fergen
Senior Connections Strategist, Social: Tyler Baugh
Connections Strategist, Social: Lauren Gourley
Managing Director: Evan Levy
Group Account Director: Jeff Quick
Management Supervisor: Madison Gargan
Assistant Account Executive: Lauren Edwards
Project Manager: Allison Ponce