Whopper Freakout Wins BK, CP+B a Grand Effie

Last night at the Effies, Crispin Porter + Bogusky was recognized for "Whopper Freakout," the incendiary stunt work it did for Burger King in '07.

"Burger King won the Grand Effie convincingly due to their boldness and creativity across multiple media platforms, delivering real cultural relevance and above all, outstanding business results," gushed Chairman Carl Johnson of the Effie Worldwide Board of Directors/Co-Founder, Anomaly.

You can read about the campaign in the link above, but essentially what BK did was cut the Whopper off the menu at select restos. People that walked in and ordered it freaked out when they got a rival's hamburger instead. Those that demanded to see the manager were treated to an actual Whopper, served by the King himself.

Whopper quarterly sales increased in the double-digits as a result of the effort, which was broadcast in TV ads and disseminated online.

Grand Effie finalists included:

o Anomaly and Converse for "Domaination"
o DDB Seattle and McDonald's for "Unsobby Coffee"
o Energy BBDO and Canadian Club "Damn Right"
o MindShare, Suave and Sprint for "In The Motherhood"
o TBWA\Chiat\Day and Pedigree for "Echo"

In mildly pleasing underdog news, indy agencies claimed seven out of 24 Gold Effies. See all winners (pdf).