Chicken Fries, Anyone? Burger King's Cannes Pop-Up Restaurant Was a Tribute to Innovations Past

As part of the festivities to celebrate its Cannes Lions Creative Marketer of the Year honor, Burger King erected a pop-up restaurant in the Palais des Festivals. The servers passed out to delegates free Chicken Fries, one of the many brilliant ideas conceived out of its former agency, Crispin Porter & Bogusky. Those who waited in the long lines could while away the time by playing the iconic campaign, "King Games," Burger King's trio of Xbox titles that earned the Titanium Grand Prix in 2007. When the pop-up shop opened last Monday, BK saw an unexpectedly tremendous turnout at the stand. "Our original plan was to give away 150 boxes per day," said VP-Global Marketing Fernando Machado. "But the demand was more like 650 boxes per day." The company had to scramble to meet demand, importing more food and more packaging from Spain. (The boxes, it turns out, have a creative pedigree too. Turner Duckworth, the design which earned the first-ever Design Grand Prix in 2008 for its redesign of Coca-Cola's logo and visual identity.) When Ad Age visited on Cannes' final day, Saturday, the Chicken Fries supply was fully depleted, so BK was just passing out regular frites. Yet, there was still a line. When the server told one delegate that the fries wouldn't be ready for ten minutes, he said, "Oh, I can wait."

Chicken Fries, Anyone? Burger King's Cannes Pop-Up Restaurant Was a Tribute to Innovations Past

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