Not content with scandalizing SpongeBob SquarePants-loving tykes with images of big, juicy, four-cornered bootys, Burger King has unleashed another ad campaign that’s keeping them in the press; this time, it’s for the “Texican Whopper,” a curiously double-pattied burger that is being advertised by the pairing of a cowboy and a Lucha Libre (who is draped in a Mexican flag and referred to as a “Little Mexican,” hence the controversy). The ads are being pulled, but the wire stories live on, and for some reason every clip online I’ve seen so far has claimed that the rolling piano music underneath the heartwarming story of these two unlikely pals coming together is a snippet of R.E.M.’s “At My Most Beautiful.” After extensive consultation with fans of Michael Stipe et al on my buddy list, I’m comfortable saying that the Internet is wrong on that point. Compare the original with the ad, after the jump.
Now that that’s been cleared up, can anyone tell me what is in that second patty? Is it chicken? Or “crispy lettuce,” whatever that might be?
Texican Whopper Ad Surprising Combination [YouTube]
R.E.M. - At My Most Beautiful [YouTube]
Burger King to scrap ad after complaint by Mexico [Reuters]
@Weezy F Baby: o_O
@MayhemintheHood:
Hahah, speaking of baseball & mini sirloin burgers, the Dodgers had a promotion at the game last night where if the Dodgers won by 3 or more runs, coupons for free mini sirloin burgers would be handed out.
And that’s how the chant of “we want burgers” was born.
yeah…that’s not REM. I would venture a guess that there is no way on God’s green earth that REM would allow Burger King (or any fast food place) the use of any song.
@TriedandTrue
I humbly submit the BBQ joint jingle “Walter’s Theme” on Dead Letter Office:
Hey, this is David/
I’ve got a hat the size of Oaklahoma/
Put on my boots and going down to Walter’s/
Get me some barbecue/
Bring some home to the missus/
He’ll give you a bag to put it in/
This is David, signing off./
Makes you wonder how many of Stipe’s musical alter egos aren’t vegetarians.
@Triedandtrue
” My name is Michael/I’ve got a hunger the size of Oaaaklahoma/Take it on down to Walter’s Barbecue/He’ll give you a bag to put it in/”
the album version is on Dead Letter Office.
This comes from Kevin O’Neil from REM/Athens, LLC:
“I can most certainly confirm that this is not R.E.M. in the Burger King ad.”
@michaelpop: I love those promotions, just because people will get stoked on free food. I think it was a Chicago Bulls a few weeks ago where one of their own players missed a free throw that would’ve given them enough points to get some free food, then he had the ball again on the final possession and just held onto it. He got thoroughly booed by his own home crowd. Hilarious.
Dang. I thought it was going to be the Orange Lemon song.
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oops with the syntax.
the BK ad sounds to me more like a “let’s avoid paying royalties” mock-up of the intro to “Don’t Stop Believin’”
@westartedthis: Totally. I thought both that and “Have a Little Faith In Me”
@MayhemintheHood: I was going to bring up that Jack commercial! My thoughts; it’s okay to make fun of little people as long as their not ethnic too.
Mini-Sirloin Burgers! Yeehaw!
As usual, the Internet is completely wrong.
Wow. A chicken/burger combo. I’ve never even considered it! And yet I want one now!
I think both patties are hamburger, along with some jalapeno and “spicy mayo”. I guess I can see how that R.E.M. song was confused, I guess.
On a slightly different note, my favorite over-played commercial of the baseball season, so far, is for Jack in the Box’s mini sirloin burgers. The song rules, as well as the miniature cows.(Speaking of…I’m surprised that one hasn’t stirred up some controversy itself).
Yes, internet, Burger King paid REM’s insane licensing fees so they could use a simple piano loop in the background of a commercial for a burger that will be around for 2 months.
apparently that additional patty is “chili con carne”