The Wall Street Journal today has an article discussing the Subservient Chicken website created by Burger King (discussed here previously after Adrants wrote about it). If you’re a subscriber to the WSJ, here’s a link. The results in only two days are astounding. An excerpt:
Designed by Crispin, the Web promotion represents a classic example of viral marketing — promotions that catch on via word-of-mouth rather than a flashy ad campaign on a more established medium such as TV, radio or a magazine.
“The intent here is to speak specifically to young adults in their 20s and 30s. These are people that are very Internet savvy,” says Blake Lewis, a spokesman for Burger King, which is controlled by Texas Pacific Group. “They are very active. They may not mirror a lot of the traditional TV, newspaper or radio consumption patterns that older adults have come to adopt.”
The subservientchicken.com Web site launched the evening of April 7, Mr. Lewis says, and only 20 people were told about it — all friends of people who worked at the ad agency. Some TV ads have flashed the Web address. Burger King says the site has received 15 million to 20 million hits. According to the agency, Web surfers have spent an average of six minutes exploring the fowl game.