My “beef” for today is Burger King’s ad campaign “Have It Your Way”. At first glance and thought, it seems rather nifty, I think. It suggests to consumers that they have some sort of power over their orders, and that both the customer and the fast food chain itself more or less partner in order to bring a particular fast food meal to your dinner table. I think it also insinuates that every order is unique, sort of like a fingerprint. That might be stretching the truth a bit but, hey, that’s advertising for you.
I did some mild research and learned that the “Have It Your Way” campaign originally was released in the 1970’s. From what I read, everyone alive during that era still clearly remembers the campaign…except me. I don’t recall it at all, but then again, we always ate at McDonalds. Burger King has evidently tried a few other campaign slogans over the years to no real avail and word on the street was that they wished to return to their most memorable and successful campaign, the lovely “Have It Your Way”. My question is whether that’s the real reason behind the move. Read on…
Now, don’t get me wrong: I like Burger King. As a vegetarian, they’re the only major fast food burger place that I know of that took the chance on the veggie burger and it seems to still be running strong. It’s also pretty reasonably priced and I don’t think I’ve ever spent more than five dollars on any particular meal.
What I don’t like, though, is that it took me awhile to understand how to order. I’ll be honest…the Burger King veggie burgers aren’t exactly the best tasting veggie burgers out there, but having said that, they’re still decent. The strange part, though, was that the first few times I ordered one, it was plain as hell. It took me awhile to understand what exactly was wrong with it, and then one day it hit me…there really wasn’t much on it!
The next time I went through the drive through, I tried a different tactic. “I’d like a BK Veggie Burger….with tomatoes, pickles, and onions,” I said loudly into the drive through loudspeaker. When I got back to the office, sure enough, the burger was nearly twice as high as my previous ones and definitely was much more satisfying, like, um, a burger.
It seems to me that “Have It Your Way” might just be a ploy. Unless you ask for specific items, they simply don’t give them to you. Am I the only one that finds this weird? Whatever happened to “I’d like a burger…without pickles, please”? The formula has always been, as long as I can remember, that you order things WITHOUT specific items, if you don’t want them. When did this change to you simply don’t get them? Ah ha! Now we’re getting somewhere! Could this maybe be some sort of cost savings trick rather than consumer empowerment? How many pickles do you think people forget to order a year, and therefore how much money does that save? These are questions that I’d like to know the answers to. Yes, scary, I know, but this is just one of the 10 million dumb questions that rattle around my brain on a daily basis.
I realize that I’m a bit of an extremist but I don’t even really understand the necessity of having things “your way”. Unless someone has a dietary need or something similar, why can’t you just have it the way that’s recommended? It seems, in a rather strange way, not that unlike ordering a gourmet meal and then, right in front of the chef, asking for salt. I’ve never understood people who order things in this manner: “I’d like a hamburger with no pickles, no onions, just a little bit of lettuce, ketchup on the side….” Even better, the specific coffee customer who needs it just right: “Skim milk, a dash of cinnamon, no ice, with a flavor shot of…” This isn’t a dietary need; can you say high maintenance?! I mean, if you need your food this specific, why not just jump over the counter and make it yourself! That’s kind of what you’re doing anyway, isn’t it? Yes, it’s sad, but this is what American society has become, and then we congratulate one another for it. It’s rather puzzling.
“Have It Your Way” isn’t just a slogan for Burger King; it’s basically the slogan of our way of life these days. It’s unfortunate that it doesn’t spill over into things that are more important, like our government, Wall Street, and so on. But hey, at least I can get 2% milk in my latte…
