David Beckham Appears In Burger King Campaign Touting New Menu Items

Burger King in its "biggest marketing push to date" is using celebrities like MLS Galaxy MF David Beckham, TV host Jay Leno and singers Mary J. Blige and Steven Tyler "to draw attention to its revamped menu,” according to Noreen O’Leary of ADWEEK. Beckham is featured in the first spot of the campaign via Mother, N.Y., and he “turns on his heartthrob charisma as he orders a strawberry and banana smoothie and melts not only the counter server but also her (male) manager.” While most of Beckham's previous ads were fronted by him “as an athlete in his prime, his profile with most consumers in the U.S. has largely been associated with slick Armani underwear ads and his elitist-fashionista wife.” The Burger King spot “plays up his Hollywood looks, slicked-back hair and fashionable stubble, even as he goes mainstream with the fast-food masses” (ADWEEK.com, 4/3). In London, Jade Watkins wrote it “comes as somewhat a surprise that David Beckham would lend his international brand name to one of the most unhealthiest fast food restaurants in the world -- Burger King.” However, he is “promoting one of the burger chain's new healthier options.” The commercial comes as the QSR “has been making changes to their menu in order to improve slumping sales.” The result is “a changed menu which features frappe coffees, smoothies, chicken strips and snack wraps -- all of which have been heavily promoted at McDonalds for years at this point” (London DAILY MAIL, 4/3).