Campaign: BK Crown – You're Never Too Small to Make a Big Difference
Company: Burger King
Nonprofit Partners: Have It Your Way Foundation, Donors Choose, Wildlife Conservation Society, National Parks Conservation Association
Launch Date: November 7, 2011
[/box]Campaign Description:
Burger King has rolled out a new kids program called BK Crown, complete with a “slimmer”, “more bejeweled” crown, interactive meal box and kid-focused online voting cause marketing program. When a BK Crown code is entered online, the user may cast a vote for one of four featured charities. For each vote cast, one cent will be donated out of a fund estimated to reach $850,000. Any remaining funds will be divided equally between the charities.
Our Take:
It's not often we see cause marketing campaigns specifically targeted to children. For parents looking for productive online activities for their children, this campaign may be of interest. Conversely, it may become an object of criticism from advocacy groups opposing marketing to children. The voting component of the site itself is kid-friendly, arranging charities by cause focus area (“Animals”, “Environment”, “Education”). Whether BK will successfully create a generation of cause crusaders or an army of upset parents remains to be seen.