For a while now, Burger King has proclaimed the “superfan” to be young males that frequent fast-food restaurants on a super-regular basis (9-10 times per month).  And over the past year, they ramped up their advertising with controversial campaigns like SpongeBob SquareButt and the one I wrote about in detail, the Super Seven Incher.

Burger King said it was all about males, ages 18-34.

Now, they’re thinking a little differently – mainly because their sales have been riding a slippery slope in the downward direction.

According to an article in this week’s AdAge, John Chidsey, BK CEO, re-defined “superfans” for investors:

To clarify, it’s not just 18-to-34-year-old males, it’s all ages and all household demographics, with over half of them having children.

And interestingly, over 29% are 50 years of age or older.”

In other words, their marketing was all screwed up.  They spent a great deal of time and an inordinate amount of money alienating their core customers.

Women who not only purchase meals for themselves, but for their spouses, boyfriends, girlfriends, children and – perhaps most important – grandchildren.

Has Burger King learned its lesson? Time will tell.  The company is introducing new menu items and promotions to attract female customers back to its franchises.  No word yet on upcoming advertising campaigns, but most likely they will be backing away from the “wonderfully edgy” campaign their ad agency talked them into.

It’s another blow for the advertising myth of the 18-34 demographic.  Hazzah!

Sometimes, I don’t see what the big deal is all about.

An ad like the UK’s Wonderbra casting call appeals to me because it’s a tongue-in-cheek way of getting the message across.

While Holly was turned off by La Difference’s “Perfect Set” TV ad, I got a giggle out of it.  And I thought Reebok’s Easy Tone commercial made more fun of the cameraman (along with making me wonder if those shoes really could make my butt look like that).

Then there was the Burger King ad. That one did get to me.

Not to mention Johnson & Johnson’s ad for o.b. tampons.  (Good Lord.)

So there’s the rub.

Women don’t react en masse.

How a woman responds to a supposed attempt at persuasion is based on her internal value system and experiential memory.

And because women’s opinions are so divided, advertisers will continue to utilize and manipulate the Boobs & Butts tactic – there’s rarely enough of an outcry to change a company’s mind.

There are 3 reasons why big brands will always use Boobs & Butts… and why you shouldn’t:

1. Deep Pockets.

Large companies and corporations have massive marketing budgets.  They can create a dozen different messages (although they shouldn’t), and can bombard consumers through every known form of media.

Did a Boobs & Butts ad tank?  Did it piss some women off?  Oh well, they reply, we can afford the hit.  What’s a couple of million bucks? C’est la vie.

2. Creativity Trumps Persuasion.

No one ever said advertising creatives had taste.  I think there’s a formulaic equation hidden in a vault somewhere on Madison Avenue that states the larger the agency, the lower the taste threshold.

With advertising agencies, the pressure is ON to produce and the easiest lever to reach for is sex.  Creatives also don’t know where to draw the line.  If an ad is effective, they will continue to push till they finally go over the line, creating an ad that rings the “bad taste” bell like it’s been hit with a sledgehammer.

Are Boobs & Butts ads creative?  They can be. But it’s rare to have one that persuades more than a sliver of the potential consumer audience.  And who cares?  Big companies can afford it (see #1).

3. Men Are Still the Main Target.

And will probably remain so forever.  Big companies and ad agencies are still mired in hierarchical, single-focus mindset and messaging.

Which is perfect for men, who are left-brain dominant.

It’s is also rather stupid.

Give a man an ad that features boobs – his brain zeroes in on the target and tells him, “Oh look – boobs.”

Give a woman the same ad, and her brain says, “Oh look – that’s kind of degrading.”

Neither brain says, “Oh look – a great product.”

Boobs & Butts ads will always get people talking.  But if they’re talking more about an ad’s anatomy than about your business, you’d be better off flushing your marketing dollars down the toilet.

Boobs & Butts will never go away.

It’s still a waste of money for a company of any size, but the big boys can afford it.

You can’t.

Most critics are in an uproar over the ad because of what they deem to be offensive subject matter – you’ll get no argument from me where that’s concerned. But, for the moment, let’s set sexual content aside and look at this through the crystal-clear lens of marketing.

What do companies hope to achieve with edgy advertising?

1) To create something that has enough of an impact to break through the clutter and put the company in the spotlight.

2) To get people buzzing about the ad and the company’s creativity.

3) To persuade people to buy the company’s product or service.

Right here is where most companies fall down. They put the most important priority – persuading customers to buy – at the bottom of the list.

Ego trumps Existence every time. And almost always fails.

The most successful marketers know it’s not about how creative and edgy you can be, but rather the highest and most efficient use of the company’s marketing dollar. When faced with what someone calls a “creative opportunity to brand your business,” take a deep breath, then ask yourself these questions:

- Who’s in control of our message – us, or the ad agency?

- Are we willing to commit to a long-term campaign of ads like this one, or is this just a wham-bam-thank-you-m’am, one-shot deal?

- Is this marketing vehicle consistent with our long-term core message?

- If we’re trying to reach out to a new market segment, are we sure they’re even the customers we want?

- Does this new market segment hold the potential to become loyal customers, or will they turn away from us when our competition comes out with an even edgier ad?

- What is this ad signaling to those who love us most, our repeat customers? What kind of effect will ads like this have on them?

If the honest answers to those questions convince you that you can maintain the precarious balance of Edgy and Core Message in a way that improves the long-term growth of your company, then go for it. I’d like nothing more than to witness your triumph.

Of course, I have yet to see an actual success, but who knows – maybe you’ll be the genius that makes business history.