• by April 15, 2004

Burger King's garter-clad chicken has hooked millions of Webheads who accessed a dedicated site to see the bird strut its stuff. The burger giant set up a dedicated Web site and a viral promotion at: www.subservientchicken.com on April 7. The site and promotion were designed by Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Miami, to tout Burger King's chicken sandwiches.

The hilarious Web campaign features a person dressed up as a chicken. Web surfers can command the chicken to perform various activities, ncluding dancing and jumping; a visitor can also type in a custom command and the chicken will obey the direction. An order to "come hither" resulted in the chicken walking toward this writer's screen.

The subservient chicken campaign, part of a TV effort for BK that broke last weekend, is shot in a GenY apartment in the style of an amateur porn film.

Clad in a garter belt, the chicken waits for directives from the viewer. Other features of the site include the "tell a friend" email option, a chicken mask for printing and wearing, photos, and "subservient TV," where viewers can access the campaign's quirky/hipster-esque TV spots.

Crispin reported a staggering number of hits to the dedicated site, which began life as a test site link that was sent to 20 individuals who are friends of the agency. On Thursday, April 8, just one day after the site went live, Crispin reported 8.2 million hits, with the average viewing period hitting 8 minutes and 52 seconds. The traffic hit a whopping 12.4 million hits on April 14, with an average viewing period of 6 minutes and 56 seconds.