Now this is getting just plain silly: First the Subservient Chicken, then the Sith Sense and now Coq Roq – damn I wish I worked on the Burger King interactive account! Coq Roq is the web site for a made-up band called “Fowl Mouth” – its a great flash site that advertises BK’s new Chicken Fries (I can feel my arteries clogging just having typed that). Check out the gallery area; I think it’s neat how it switches from picture to picture.
Thanks Todd for sending this to me – and to think I thought Coq Roq was a gay band…
UPDATE:
What kind of messages does this site send out, especially when it’s backed by a huge corporation? Ultimately, what it’s doing is sexualizing fast food” is just one opinion out of many about this campaign. After the jump, read about all the controversy Coq Roq has kicked up.
From AdAge:
BURGER KING’S COQROQ.COM TRIGGERS CONTROVERSY
Some Sexual Double Entendres Removed From Site Overnight
July 26, 2005 by Kate MacArthur
CHICAGO (AdAge.com) — Even though it has suddenly removed sexual double entendres from its new Web site, CoqRoq.com, Burger King today denied it had received any complaints from consumers or other outside groups.
This screen grab was taken in the ‘Gallery’ section of Burger King’s CoqRoq.com site yesterday. Today, the ‘Groupies Love the Coq’ caption was removed. The company denies it made the changes because of outside complaints. The CoqRoq.com site is linked to Burger King’s main Web site and is promoted in a new Burger King TV commercial.
Crispin Porter
CoqRoq.com, created by Crispin Porter & Bogusky, Miami, the agency that created Burger King’s Subservient Chicken site, is designed to look like the kind of crudely outrageous Web site created by a rock band.
The Web site’s double entendre name, along with the lyrics, demeanor and the sophomoric presentation of the fictitious heavy metal group, projects the illusion of something designed to offend the sensibilities of mainstream adult America.
Among other things, CoqRoq.com, which is linked directly to the main Burger King Web site, includes photo galleries with Polaroid-style shots of young girls with the handwritten captions “Groupies love the Coq” and “groupies love Coq.” Since the site went live yesterday, those captions and others have been erased from the online materials. AdAge.com took screen shots of those removed materials yesterday afternoon.
“Nothing on the site has changed because of any reaction to the site,” said Edna Johnson, senior vice president for global communications for Burger King Corp., which is owned by private equity firm Texas Pacific Group. Mrs. Johnson said photo cutlines were written and then assigned randomly by computer software that as since been disabled. She said malfunctions in the Flash and XML programming were responsible for putting the “Groupies love the Coq” on the photos of the young women.
No complaints
Ms. Johnson said neither the marketer nor its agency, Crispin Porter, had been contacted by any groups. “We haven’t had any complaints. The site launched slightly more than 24 hours ago and the changes are typical of a new Web site that is being tweaked.” She added that a misspelling of Burger King had also been fixed.
But even industry insiders were surprised by the gaffe of the CoqRoq site, with some noting that the bar, first raised first by Burger King’s subservient chicken and later upped by the Paris Hilton erotic carwashing spot for CKE Restaurants’ Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr., has pushed the limits of what fast-food marketers will do for attention.
“There’s a fine line between getting the attention of the core target and risking offending the masses,” said Chris Carroll, senior vice president and director of marketing for Subway’s Franchisee Advertising Fund Trust.
The lead singer of Burger King’s fictitious rock band CoqRoq is named Fowl Mouth.
Ralph Norman Haber, partner, Human Factors Consultants, an expert on subliminal perception and subliminal advertising, said there’s nothing subliminal in the site or its advertising and that both males and females appear to be targeted equally.
“As far as I could see both sides of each one of these comes in for being the target,” he said. “Everybody is picked on and it”s kind of fair game. I think it’s probably an effective ad. From my point of view I thought it was very creative.”
However, outsiders are asking how a corporation of Burger King’s stature could have approved the use of such a concept.
‘Offensive in general to families’
“Just the name Coq Roq in general is offensive to families,” said Aliza Pilar Sherman, an authority and author on women and the Internet and founder of cybergrrl. “I can’t imagine if parents of a smaller child saw this. They’d say they don’t want their child exposed to this. Where do we as responsible individuals draw the line? Of course there’s freedom of speech but does that mean Burger King should be perpetuating stereotypes, negative attitudes and demeaning behavior to the market.”
“Burger King is perpetuating a crude type of stereotype,” agreed Dr. Martha Allen, director of the Women’s Institute for Freedom of the Press. “They’re serving junk stereotypes degrading and harmful to women.”
The fact they adjusted the site indicates “they’re crossing the line and they know it in some sense,” said Pat McGann, director of outreach for Men Can Stop Rape, a group that works with young men to foster healthy relationships with women. He called the entire site an example of material that confuses men about what it means to be a man.
Sexualizing fast food
“What kind of messages does this site send out, especially when it’s backed by a huge corporation?” he asked. “Ultimately, what it’s doing is sexualizing fast food.”
22 thoughts on “Coq Roq”
The concept of Coq Roq, including and especially the marketing story of how “Fowl Mouth” and Burger King came to unite, is corny but (mildly) entertaining. It’s a great way to connect with the 18-34 year old demographic, and I applaud BK for such experimental advertising.
Extreme views will great anything different.
I love Coq Roq. And I love Burger King. So I’m good either way.
I’m sorry but most 18-34 year olds aren’t going to fall for this kind of crap…maybe 14 to 16 year olds.. The music sucks…and is more annoying to me than country music, and I hate country music so much it gives me a headache. Many of my friends(all 18-34), and especialy my sister actually turn the TV off or leave the room when the commercial comes on. Yeah.. brilliant advertising..it makes people turn off the TV…
maybe because your sister is a prick
Nate – first of all, why did you insult his sister and not his friends considering he mentioned they both turn off the TV? Secondly, there is no need for you to try and ignite a flame war, especially over something as silly as a Burger King ad campaign. I believe someone told me once, I think when I was at the ripe old age of 3, that if you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all…
Why do all you guys hate them so much? God it’s good music for crying out loud!
good music? ROFL! That is persicly the point.. it isn’t “good” music at all. It’s terrible. These “songs” are nothing more than advertising jinggles.. but back them with punkrock sound and an extreeme appearance and you suddenly become blind to that fact. It’s like suddenly “oh man burger king is extreeme!! kick ass!!! chicken fries rule!! May not be suprising to you, (it certainly wasn’t to me), but the guys you see in the comertial that masqerade as this so called “band” aren’t even the ones who play the music… The reason I hate it is becasue it’s terribly insulting to me and my “demographic” to think that these advertising people actully think we will fall for this…however as I’ve come to see there are more falling for this drivel than I ever thought possible. Perhaps I give too much credit. Call it what you will but don’t ever.. ever call it Music… you insult ever true musician on this earth in doing so.
ok………so is the only reason you don’t like the music b/c you don’t like hard rock/heavy metel?
This brings up an interesting question: is it better to create a song to use in a commercial or to license an already created song for a commercial?
I’m listening to it right now….”BOB YOUR HEAD!! BOB YOUR HEAD!!” You gotta love that song…..
Well, I like the band. I think that Fowl Mouth is so hott! He looks almost 100% like my friend Sean who I like so much! The Same Wristband, Same Bely, Same Style of Wearing Boxers Above Black Shorts, Same Shorts, Thin, and Hott! I Love You Sean, You Are My Secret Crush!!!
How can you tell if he looks like him when you can’t even see his face? LOL
Love em or hate em… Burger King has got you talking about CoqRoq.
As far as they are concerned… Mission Complete
Well, after struggling in an 80’s rock band for several years (without success), I have to give it to these guys. It is such a mixture: They rock (roq)-their music just kicks ass and for those of you laughing at the masks…I give you KISS. The MTV/Spinal Tap feel of the videos is a kick. Did everyone get that they were “playing chicken” in the pool scene? There is so much to work with on this…keep it up.
coq roq is so fucking lame i cant even begin to fathom the words needed to explain it
its the latest in a sad fucking pop culture society that basically goes out and BUYS bands so that they might promote a product
sucking in the personality inept children preteens and 25 year old losers to TELL them how they should talk dress act and think
please speak up when something so fucking retarded is jammed in your face on every commercial break
fuck mtv, fuck burger king, fuck this loser band (i use that phrase loosly as these fools clearly have no skill or style), and fuck every tool ass out there sucking down this dribble
g fucking g
fuck you
This entire campaign is exquisitely crass, and that’s why I like it so much – it’s just WRONG on so many levels. A bunch of chicken imitating slipknot wannabes shouting about burger king products pisses me off and makes me laugh at the same time. It’s just so intentionally cheesy. There is not a single soul on this Earth who doesn’t have a reason to be pissed off about it. What a misapplication of talent – wow… I’m so torn…
i really dont care about all of the nonsense that u guys r talkin about if i could find a song by fowl mouth i would download it to see if they r good or not have ne of u done that probably not so go try it and if u find one download it and tell me what u think of them then
peace out
lol jk
c ya name
I think it’s funny and I totally thought Fowl Mouth would suck. Perhaps you guys shouldn’t take the campaign so seriously. BTW: Who is Fowl Mouth?!?
is coq roq a real band or just a corporate thing from burger king to promote an item and they just bought coq roq? i personally think they r pretty cool cos i downloaded some of their songs for free on their site and they r cool for amatures….but r they even real or just a fake band for burger king, cos that would really suck!!!!!!!!
are you really asking if they’re a real band? you sir, are denser that depleted Uranium.
are you really asking if they’re a real band? you sir, are denser that depleted Uranium.