Marketing firm Crispin says Burger King Xbox promo spells success for industry

Crispin Porter + Bogusky knew people liked seeing The King, Subservient Chicken and Whopper Jr.

Apparently, more than 2 million people like being the Burger King characters created by the advertising agency as well.

The Miami-based Crispin, which has a 160-person office in Boulder, says Burger King sold more than 2.7 million Xbox video games based on The King and his commercial cohorts.

The numbers not only translate into a successful campaign for the agency and fast-food restaurant, they show the potential for less-traditional avenues in the advertising industry, said Alex Bogusky, executive creative director for Crispin.

The campaign shows how "you can create properties that are as interesting as what is created in Hollywood," he said. "Now I feel, 'Hey, can we do a movie with The King?' It seems like we're one step closer to that."

His firm estimates the campaign equaled about 18 Super Bowl commercials worth of impressions.

"Which is really good value because we didn't spend anything like that," he said.

Crispin and developer Blitz Games built the three games, which include: Sneak King, where the player delivers Burger King food as The King without being seen; Pocketbike Racer, a racing game that incorporates other advertising mascots; and Big Bumpin', a multi-player bumper car game.

Crispin worked with Equity Marketing and Microsoft Corp. to create the five-week holiday promotion where the games were sold for $3.99 with the purchase of a value meal.

Shane Bettenhausen, executive editor of Electronic Gaming Monthly said he thought the concepts were clever at first. After playing the games, he said he became concerned about what kind of precedent an advertisement as a video game would set.

"We want to believe that (video game development) is an art form," he said. "I'm kind of wary of it as a trend."

Christopher Swain, a professor of interactive media at the University of Southern California, said while the low price probably drove purchases, the amount sold shows this advertising avenue is working in a way.

"From a business perspective, it makes perfect sense, because the audience at Burger King is interested in and strongly influenced by video games," said Swain, who also is co-director of the Electronic Arts Game Innovation Lab.

Burger King is not the first company to blaze the advertising gaming path. Past examples include 7-UP's Cool Spot mascot in Sega games and the Kool-Aid Man Atari game.

In some cases, those types of games make sense, Swain said but he doesn't expect it to become the norm for the industry.

"I think that you will see further examples of in-game advertising," he said. "I don't believe that it means that our games are going to become all-advertising oriented."