Burger King Bets on Tony Stewart and a Polygraph Test

Burger King’s newest celebrity endorsements are coming from NASCAR driver Tony Stewart. I just saw my first Burger King commercial starring Tony Stewart this week, and it wasn’t bad. Considering how popular NASCAR is, I’d imagine the pairing of a popular driver with fast food is decent.

Then I heard that Tony Stewart is taking a live polygraph test online where he will be asked if he really likes Burger King Whoppers, and the appeal of this campaign from Crispin Porter & Bogusky became clear to me. It’s a clever attempt at creating an integrated marketing program driving television audiences to Burger King’s special website — where visitors can submit their own questions for Stewart’s polygraph test. And that site is in addition to the existing BKracking.com site that already has interactive features and a sweepstakes game.

Will the effort sell more Whoppers? It’s hard to say. I’m not well versed in the NASCAR audience demographics, but it certainly can’t hurt. If nothing else, it’s got people talking, which has to be good for the Burger King brand.

However, I’m not so sure about the Carrot Top and Erik Estrada appeal (check out the commercial below)? Since Carrot Top got all pseudo-buff on steroids, he’s disturbingly freaky to look at. On the other hand, what person older than 35 doesn’t get a bit nostalgic when they see Frank Poncherello?

What do you think?

Susan Gunelius

Susan Gunelius is President & CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc. and Founder & Editor in Chief of an award-winning blog, WomenOnBusiness.com. She is a 25-year veteran of the marketing field and has authored 10 books about marketing, branding, and social media, including the highly popular 30-Minute Social Media Marketing, Content Marketing for Dummies, Blogging All-in-One for Dummies and Kick-ass Copywriting in 10 Easy Steps. Susan’s marketing-related content can be found on Entrepreneur.com, Forbes.com, MSNBC.com, BusinessWeek.com, and more. Susan is President & CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc., a marketing communications company. She has worked in corporate marketing roles and through client relationships with AT&T, HSBC, Citibank, Intuit, The New York Times, Cox Communications, and many more large and small companies around the world. Susan also speaks about marketing, branding and social media at events around the world and is frequently interviewed by television, online, radio, and print media organizations about these topics. She holds an MBA in Management and Strategy and a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing.