Twice in one night...

[usndoc]

Fowl-mouthed slogans too hot for Burger King




Burger King removed this captioned photo within 24 hours of its debut

GROUPIES LOVE THE COCK!!


ger King has yanked some sexually suggestive material from one of its chicken-hawking websites, but denies its actions were prompted by any public outrage.

In order to promote its chicken fries, the fast-food chain created "CoqRoq.com," which features a fictitious rock band wearing chicken heads.

In the photo gallery section of its site, Polaroid-style pictures of young women appeared with captions that read, "Groupies Love the Coq" and "groupies love Coq."

"Just the name Coq Roq in general is offensive to families," Aliza Pilar Sherman, an author on women and the Internet, told Advertising Age. "I can't imagine if parents of a smaller child saw this. They'd say they don't want their child exposed to this. Where do we as responsible individuals draw the line? Of course there's freedom of speech but does that mean Burger King should be perpetuating stereotypes, negative attitudes and demeaning behavior to the market?"

Ironically, the band's lead singer is named Fowl Mouth.

Within 24 hours of the site's debut this week, the captions with the double entendres were erased.

"Nothing on the site has changed because of any reaction to the site," BK spokeswoman Edna Johnson told AdAge. "We haven't had any complaints. ... [T]he changes are typical of a new website that is being tweaked."

Johnson said malfunctions in the Flash and XML programming were responsible for putting the "Groupies love the Coq" on the photos of the young women.

"The fact that a BK corporate communicator blamed 'malfunctions in the Flash and XML programming' for the captions proves big brands are very much afraid to back up their own agencies' creative expression," writes one blogger reacting to the controversy. "Sure, 'I love coq' is a blatant, head-turning slogan, but still, have we become that PC, or simply idiotic, when a company like BK claims no prior knowledge of the captions before its launched?"

The CoqRoq campaign was produced by Miami-based Crispin Porter + Bogusky, the same agency that developed the recent Burger King television commercials featuring Darius Rucker (Hootie of Hootie and the Blowfish) singing a revamped "Have it your way" song, with lyrics such as, "There's a train of ladies coming with a nice caboose."


Darius Rucker, aka Hootie of Hootie and the Blowfish, sings Burger King's praises in a recent TV campaign

Burger King is not getting completely flame-broiled from those in the advertising world.

"This business of screeching 'Oh my, oh my' every time a kid under the age of 15 might be exposed to a sexual overtone is madness," writes David Kiley of BusinessWeek magazine. "The world, the schoolyard, the summer camp and the workplace is full of sexual overtones. The point is to deal with it appropriately, not seek to ban it from the media."

"The only thing harmful to women in this website is if it prompts them to order the chicken fries," he added.

[Kirkwood]

I can just see it now... Next time I'm out and about kilted, someone is gonna ask me where my chicken mask is.