Burger King Rides the 'It' Wave and Advises, 'Never Trust a Clown'

The big screen remake of Stephen King's "It" has been dominating the box office both in the U.S. and overseas. In Germany, it broke records, earning a record $11.6 million its opening weekend, the largest ever for a horror film in the market, according to Box Office Mojo. So along with Hamburg-based independent German agency Grabarz and Partner, Burger King jumped on the popularity of the film with a simple in-theater stunt. After German viewers had their fill of horror, BK projected on the screen right before the credits the simple message: "The moral is ... never trust a clown," shortly followed by the Burger King logo. Coincidentally (or not), this follows a curious move by the marketer in Russia, where the film also has been raking it in at the box office. At the end of September, Burger King Russia issued a ballsy complaint to the country's Federal Anti-Monopoly Service. It asked that the "It" film be banned from the country because lead villain Pennywise, a clown, looks a little too much like Ronald McDonald, and therefore, the movie itself is like a giant ad for its Golden Arches rival. While mainstream outlets like The Hollywood Reporter and Washington Post reported the complaint as just that, it sounds like another clever BK marketing move to us.

Burger King Rides the 'It' Wave and Advises, 'Never Trust a Clown'

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