One of the more interesting – and surprising – creative pitches around is Burger King, reviewing out of multi-award-winning David, an Ogilvy offshoot.
But clients review because they do, no matter how much awards silverware their agency has gathered. Burger King was Cannes Lions Creative advertiser of the Year in 2017 and its ‘moldy whopper’ campaign perhaps the most awarded of the past 18 months (although not everyone likes it.)
Burger King is owned by Restaurant Brands International whose main shareholder 3G Capital is famous – notorious perhaps – for its zero-based budgeting, never popular with agencies and other suppliers.
The shortlist, according to Ad Age, is David (plus support from Ogilvy), indie agencies O’Keefe, Reinhard & Paul from Chicago, New York’s Fig and Dentsu’s 360i, a big digital media agency that’s been pushing creativity too recently.
It’s an interesting list. David was a relative minnow (despite the Ogilvy connection) when it won Burger King so the two newbies aren’t just there to make up the numbers.
There are four shops participating in Burger King’s creative agency review, according to multiple people familiar with the situation, and it’s an interesting group: independents O’Keefe, Reinhard & Paul and Fig; Dentsu’s 360i; and the incumbent David, which is pitching alongside WPP sibling Ogilvy.
