The Day an Ad Agency Made a "Product" Instead of an Ad / BURGER KING "XBOX KING GAMES"

The problem

It started in a waiting room at Cannes. Executives from Microsoft and Burger King ran into each other there, both winning awards for "I Love Bees" and "Subservient Chicken," and on the spot the idea came up: let's make Burger King games. At the time, CP+B was in the middle of reshaping the company's image around its creepy King character, and this time they went all in on something purely commercial: a game.

The insight

Judge Chuck McBride said he envied this project because it "turned an ad character into a real character, turned that character into a game, and turned the game into a business." It wasn't just about making an ad and being done with it. The ad itself became a new source of revenue. It was a moment that changed the shape of what an agency's job could be.

The idea

Three games were made under the name "King Games": Sneak King, PocketBike Racer, and Big Bumpin'. Development took seven months. Xbox games that normally cost $50 to $60 were sold for $3.99 to anyone who bought a value meal. Sneak King was a stealth game where you controlled the King, sneaking around secretly handing out burgers. Creepy, and funny.

What happened

The games sold more than 3.2 million copies, and Burger King announced it as the biggest hit game of the holiday season. Quarterly profit rose 40%. The project won the Titanium Grand Prix at the Cannes Lions.

Afterthought

They didn't make an ad in order to win at Cannes. They built a business, and the award came along with it. Every time I read this story, I think that's what the ideal kind of work looks like. I don't want to forget the weight of that number: 3.2 million.

Awards

• Cannes Lions Grand Prix 2007

Featured in

• Opening Shop Inside the GameHow do you step into a world where someone else is already lost in play?

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