3 Years, 3 Agencies: The Weird Road to Burger King's Moldy Whopper

CMO Fernando Machado explains the counterintuitive concept's path from pitch to reality

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When two agencies pitch a similar idea, how does a brand handle it? What about three agencies? Oh and also, what if the idea is really, really weird and potentially toxic for your brand?

While many marketers likely would pit their vendors against each other in a high-stress competition to see who would come out on top with the best (not to mention safest and cheapest) execution, Burger King instead went an unexpected direction.

All three agencies would get the credit.

That shared parentage is only one of the many odd aspects of Burger King’s Moldy Whopper, which launched today to promote the brand’s pledge against artificial preservatives—and quickly became one of the most debated marketing campaigns in recent memory.

Luckily

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