• by Teresa Buyikian , November 10, 2023

“Did you notice anything today at Burger King? Of course you did,” is the opening line of a :60 spot for a new anti-bullying campaign from Burger King France.

The line is referring to how the chain changed several key Burger King staples to the color grey on Nov. 8. The “G” in King was grey on restaurant signage as well as on social media, one in 10 tables were grey in the restaurants, one in 10 burgers and fries were served in grey wrappers, and one in 10 to-go bags and one in 10 self-service kiosks were also temporarily turned grey. The ad can be seen here.

The voiceover continues as grey Burger King items appear on screen: “One grey letter out of 10 in our logo, it kinda stands out. One table out of ten that doesn’t match the others, it’s quite obvious. That burger, that bag of fries, that touchscreen, they all jump out at you.”

The effort, created by Buzzman in Paris, was developed to bring awareness to France’s National Day Against School Bullying, Nov. 9, highlighting that one in 10 children in France is bullied and often overlooked. The spot goes on to show a class photo, with one out of every 10 children turned grey. The voiceover continues “If we did catch your attention, it’s to highlight a figure that is too often ignored. … one bullied child out of 10 is much harder to see.”

The spot wraps with the voiceover stating that Burger King will donate all profits from the King Junior menu on Nov. 9 to the charity Les Papillons (“the butterflies”) a non-profit that fights child abuse and bullying in France.

The campaign marks the third year Burger King France has brought awareness to France’s National Day Against School Bullying, with prior campaigns also developed by Buzzman and benefitting Les Papillons. Previous efforts included last year’s #Anti2010, which took on the social media bullying of French children born in 2010, and Notifications, which sent sample bullying texts to Burger King app subscribers with a call to action to donate to Les Papillons.