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Whopper Virgins
Posted on Wed, December 10, 2008 by Jerusha Klemperer
9 Comments | Categories: Food Justice, Meat, News, Current Events,
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by Slow Food USA staffer Jerusha Klemperer
I am not a Whopper virgin, but I like to think that I have, “Sex and the City” style, re-virginized myself by abstaining for the past 15 years, although the documentary team behind Burger King’s latest ad campaign might disagree. This technical glitch, along with my status as an American with a TV and the internet, and close access to many of their 11,000 restaurants around the world makes me ineligible for this latest project—Whopper Virgins.
The blogosphere is abuzz about these spots (and the longer “documentary” found online), which feature people in remote Greenland, remote Thailand, and remote Transylvania—people who have never (ohmygoshcanyoubelieveit!) tasted the subtle beauty and strange arrangement of an American fast food burger—being offered Big Macs and Whoppers and then asked to pick which one they prefer. Like any good ad campaign, these spots are in poor taste, pretty misleading, and—in my humble opinion—most likely staged. Call me a cynic, but I don’t believe most things I see on the teevee. Plus, when was the last time you looked to ad campaigns as paragons of cultural sensitivity and good taste?
Despite their potential lack of truth, and despite the fact that most of the burgers pictured in the ads and in the documentary look completely unappetizing, it’s not so easy to brush this campaign off; it has a way of getting under your skin. Maybe it’s the fetishizing of interviewee’s local dress; maybe it’s the way the camera lingers on participants’ confusion about how to pick up such a monstrously large food item, all “aren’t they adorably confused?”; maybe it’s the lack of a third option—a burger that actually looks good. Maybe it’s your sad feeling that there were maybe a few small pockets of this great big earth that had been, until now, still untouched by the culinary imperialism of fast food, and that this is the death knell.
Anyway, definitely look and see and judge for yourself. Some highlights include:
- From the comments section on Huffington Post, “Watching that Thai Hmong tribesman pick up that burger is like watching someone about to take their first hit of crack or meth. I wish I could have intervened.”
- An indigenous man in Greenland, standing on the ice, tasting the limp-looking burger, telling the translator that he “prefers seal meat.”
- Regina Schrambling, on Gastropoda: “After all the rainforests are gone, in the next year or so, people will still be marveling that something so offensive could have ever have been produced in a wired world.”
Member Comments
From Tim Magner on Fri, December 12, 2008
Holy Cow! I have not seen these ads, but just caught myself saying, “What a clever marketing idea…..”
After I came to my senses, I go back to my favorite video? http://www.storyofstuff.com which, sums up where we are and how we got here!
Cheers,
Tim 
From KK on Mon, December 15, 2008
While the clothes and attire of these whopper virgins offer the viewers of the commercial a sense of place, sharing with us something authentic, the exchange takes place only in one direction.
In exchange, what does the film crew offer from America? A burger, which comes from anywhere USA and represents the commoditization of our food and agriculture. Nice of them to wrap it up in the disposable wrapper, makes it look nice and authentic.
The look of hesitance and fear could be read on their faces as they tried the burgers. They too, will be assimilated.
From Heather on Tue, December 16, 2008
It is insulting and condescending. Like your article said, “aren’t they adorably confused.”
From Carla on Tue, December 16, 2008
I almost cried when I saw my first “Whopper Virgin” ad. It seems like a form of terrorism to me to introduce unadulterated people to the nutritional horrors of our fast-food industry. Then I thought, OMG, I wouldn’t hang around long as this poor person is going to have explosive diarrhea soon. Can you imagine the digestive reaction, if it’s real, to people unaccustomed to an “American burger” taking on a Whopper or Big Mac? I’m only a few years recovered from fast-food horrors myself, so I can almost feel the intestinal cramping in store for them. Again, if it’s real. I’m cynical too. It makes me feel dirty.
From Elfing Whopper Virgin on Mon, December 22, 2008
Go elf your self whopper virgin!
From HL on Wed, December 24, 2008
This is the stupidest advertising campaign I have ever seen. Whopper virgins? Have these people ever eaten ground beef before? It’s like we here are comparing which brand of dried squid is yummiest. Which one do you like? Well, Burger King, you should be darn proud of yourself.If the world liked your burgers, wouldn’t you already be international by now? Because McDonalds is.
From Jack on Sun, January 04, 2009
AFAIK the answer to the “Plus, when was the last time you looked to ad campaigns as paragons of cultural sensitivity and good taste?” is yes
From tedlow on Mon, January 05, 2009
There?s a great blog on freedomhaters.org on the Whopper Virgins commercial.
It ties it into Noam Chomsky and how the indigenous people on the commercials will most likely be forced to move to big cities when the fast food chains move in, and have to work for Burger King for a tenth of what American?s make.
Check it out here:
From Burger King Whoppers on Mon, January 05, 2009
Whopper Virgins Remixed on YouTube
