'Celebrating a new life..with junk food?': Burger King campaign divides the internet

The campaign, ‘Bundles of Joy’, aims to tap into a specific moment in the lives of new mothers: the craving for a satisfying meal after giving birth.

The campaign, released yesterday (26 September), has turned heads, with the focal point being images of new mums enjoying Burger King meals while cradling their newborns.

The tagline highlights the time of both the baby and the burger “arrived”.

However, this seemingly simple concept of “foodfillment” has ignited heated debates across LinkedIn, with both supporters and critics chiming in.

Baby Central marketing associate Terri Lowe’s reaction summarised the disconnection some felt: “Tell me you’ve never just given birth without telling me you’ve never just given birth.” 

Others, like Mindjuicer Strategic’s creative director, Asier Jon, expressed concerns about the nutritional implications of encouraging fast food post-birth. “Celebrating the arrival of a new life, with junk food? Depriving [mothers] of much needed nutrition to recover and feed their babies properly? The strategy team must have been on drugs!” 

Gregory Kukolj, chief growth officer at Whoppah, argued that Burger King missed the mark on insight: “This is what happens when marketers skip the insight and dive straight into communication… Creativity for creativity’s sake. Not ideal!” 

Freelance creative art director ‘Gaspar M.’ sarcastically added fuel to the fire, remarking: “Nothing like ultra-processed burger-flavoured breast milk,” suggesting the ad would be better suited to delivery services such as Uber Eats or Deliveroo.

This Is The Day’s founder, Carl Ratcliff, pointed out a deeper strategy at play, suggesting that the controversy was exactly what Burger King wanted: “The outrage here is kinda duplicitous… It’s precisely the response BK wants. A big non-debate about irresponsible marketing.” For Ratcliff, the entire campaign speaks to a broader issue of fast-food advertising, which continues to thrive despite its critics.

Conversely, many commenters found the campaign relatable. Daina Palmbaha-Dziguna, COO of Panic Studio, stated: “It works on me, as I can recall that hunger I had after the birth-giving. A good burger after hard work… Why not?”

David Ogiste, founder of Nobody’s Café, also weighed in, defending the campaign against unnecessary outrage: “Some people just enjoy being ‘appalled’ when it suits them, but when there are bigger things to be ‘appalled’ at, we never hear a word from them.”

Sara Collinge, director at Most Contentious, took a slightly different, yet supportive, angle, suggesting Burger King could have gone further: “They should have just given all new mums one free BK delivery and used the voucher code BURGERQUEENS.”

Whether this is a case of creative brilliance or a missed opportunity depends on where you stand in the ongoing debate. It’s clear that Burger King has achieved one of its goals: getting people talking.