Burger King and Crispin Porter + Bogusky Win Grand Effie Award for "Whopper Freakout"

Business Wire, June 04, 2009

Gold Effie Award Tally: Independently Held Agencies Win Seven, Omnicom Agencies Win Six and MDC Agencies Win Three Gold Effies

NEW YORK -- Burger King and Crispin Porter Bogusky were awarded the Grand Effie Award for the “Whopper Freakout” campaign last night at the 41st annual Effie Gala at Cipriani 42nd Street in New York. Since 1968, winning an Effie award has become a global symbol of achievement, as the Effies honor marketing communications ideas that work.

“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,” said Carl Johnson, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Effie Worldwide and Co-Founder of Anomaly.

To coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Whopper, Burger King conducted a social experiment removing the iconic Whopper from the menu. Phase one of the experiment explored deprivation to see what would happen if America’s most beloved burger was removed from the menu forever without any announcement. Phase two took the social experiment to another level when, in lieu of the Whopper, customers were given competitors’ burgers. Burger King launched a series of TV spots to drive traffic to ‘Whopperfreakout.com’ where people could view a full-length 8-minute documentary on the experiment. This film was linkable and uploadable to blogs and social networking sites, serving as a catalyst for interaction. As a result of the campaign, Whopper quarterly sales increased by double-digits.

Grand Effie finalists included Anomaly and Converse for “Domaination”, DDB Seattle and McDonald’s for “Unsnobby Coffee”, Energy BBDO and Canadian Club for “Damn Right”, MindShare and Suave and Sprint for “In The Motherhood”, and TBWA\Chiat\Day and Pedigree for Pedigree “Echo”.

Out of the 24 Gold Effies awarded last night, Independent Agencies brought home seven gold trophies, while Omnicom was the holding company with the most Gold Effie winning campaigns (six). MDC won three Gold Effies and the remaining Gold Effies were spread out among the industry’s holding companies.

DDB won 11 Effies, the most of any agency in the competition including three Gold, six Silver and two Bronze trophies.

Gold Effie agency winners by region include DDB, Energy BBDO and (Chicago), Ignited and TBWA\Chiat\Day (Los Angeles), Crispin Porter Bogusky (Miami), Colle McVoy, Preston Kelly and Olson (Minneapolis), EURO RSCG, Grey, Publicis and Mindshare (New York), Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners, Goodby Silverstein Partners and McCann Worldgroup (San Francisco) and DDB and WONGDOODY (Seattle). More details on the campaigns and brands for each winner can be found on www.effie.org.

Brands with at least two Effie wins each include Allstate, Canadian Club, Clorox Green Works, Converse, McDonald’s, New York Lottery, Nintendo, Old Spice, Sun Chips and US Army.

About The Effie Awards

The Effie Awards honor the most significant achievement in marketing communications: ideas that work. Known by advertisers and agencies globally as the pre-eminent award in the industry, the Effies recognize any and all forms of marketing communication that contribute to a brand's success. Any marketing medium is eligible for an Effie, as long as results are proven, including Print, TV, Radio, Outdoor, Internet, Guerrilla, Digital, Package Design, Events, Street Teams, PR, Paid or Unpaid Media. Since 1968, winning an Effie has become a global symbol of achievement. Today, Effie celebrates effectiveness worldwide with the annual World Effie Festival, the Global Effie, the EURO Effie, Effie Asia Pacific (Effie APAC) and more than 35 national Effie programs. For more details, visit www.effie.org.