The Unorthodox Way Burger King's First Mascot Came To Be
Every good fast-food company has a mascot. Sure, you can have any actor or spokesman harp about how good your burgers are compared to the other guy, but there's just something about the whimsical coy smile of a cartoon mascot that makes the average consumer say to themselves: "You know, maybe I will eat there today!" The use of mascots, be they animated or some guy in make-up and a costume, are used by brands to build a "relationship" with the customer (via Insider). A mascot symbolizes the values and message of the company more than any regular highly-paid spokesman.
If you want to give your company an "edgy," "not-like-the-other-guys" vibe, for example, you'd do what Jack in the Box does with its outrageous and sometimes controversial spokescharacter, Jack (via Inc.). If you want your fast-food business to have a colorful, zany, and family-friendly vibe, you'd follow McDonald's example with its legendary Ronald McDonald and the McDonaldland Gang. If you want to showcase to the public that your establishment is a place where you will be treated like royalty, perhaps a place where you could eat your burgers like a king, you'd use — what else– a king.
Burger King's "King" mascot is exactly what it sounds like: a "king" character who extols the values and virtues of all things Burger King, be it the Whopper or deals on chicken nuggets. But behind that plastic façade and eternal grin, just who or what makes up this sultan of hamburgers?
Burger King's original King had more to do with balloons
Now, when you think of Burger King, you probably don't associate it with balloons. In fact, you're not exactly sure how someone could come up with the idea of a man dressed in royal attire appearing on your screen to silently entice you with Whopper Jrs. from something as simple as balloons. Truth be told, the origin story of the "King" himself began as part of a performance hosted by Burger King way back in the '70s.
According to Mental Floss, Burger King used to hire performers dressed up in royal costumes to prance around outside of their restaurants and entertain the crowds. During these events, children were invited to blow up their own balloons using tanks of helium, which were outfitted with a giant plastic head of a king, presumably to make it look like the "king" was blowing up the kids' balloons for them. The legend goes that an ad executive, while scrolling through eBay in 2004, discovered one of these huge plastic kingly heads for sale. The sight of this disembodied head presumably inspired the executive to draw the design for the modern-day "King" mascot.
Comic Book Resources also supports this story, noting that the executives even went so far as to keep the gigantic head of the King in their offices for "inspiration" while they worked on designing the King character. If severed heads don't make good inspiration, we don't know what does.
The Burger King King today
Burger King's "King," although deemed "creepy" by some, did make the splash that the executives wanted him to. The King soon became an integral part of the fast-food mascot roster, appearing with the likes of Ronald McDonald, Grimace, and the Wendy's girl. The King was so popular, in fact, that he was even the star of his own fully-fledged stealth-action video game in 2006 (via IGN). But, nowadays, Burger King has a new jingle promoting its products, and the King is nowhere to be seen. What happened?
According to some, Burger King actually has tried to retire the King once and for all, but he almost always finds his way back. In 2011, for example, Forbes told readers that Burger King would be putting the King to bed, presumably in an attempt to "update" its image — only for the King to come back in 2015 (via A Little Bit Human). PennLive, in 2022, discussed the future of the Burger King in relation to the chain undergoing a massive overhaul to its identity, focusing more on the brand's "playful boldness" than any plastic fake royalty. Burger King, however, made no mention of its infamous mascot either way, leaving it up in the air as to whether or not the Burger King will continue to reign over the kingdom of Whoppers, or step down and let a new mascot take his place.
You know what they say: Hail to the King, baby.