• by Karlene Lukovitz  @KLmarketdaily, February 4, 2019

No one would relish the irony more than Andy Warhol himself. 

In a coincidence that seems to throw a spotlight on the current zeitgeist (if having a reality-show star in the White House hadn’t already done that in spades), not one, but two major mass brands chose to channel the pop-art icon for this year’s Super Bowl. 

As previously reported, Coca-Cola’s unity-themed 60-second ad, which was pre-released online, was inspired by and named for a Warhol observation, though the animated content itself didn’t explicitly reference the pop-art icon. 

“What’s great about this this country is that America started the tradition where the richest consumers buy essentially the same things as the poorest,” Warhol said, adding that “a Coke is a Coke, and no amount of money can get you a better Coke than the one the bum on the corner is drinking." 

Cut to the game telecast, and it turns out Burger King (which cited the same Warhol quote above as background in its press release) opted to offer the ultimate tribute to the artist: A 45-second ad (below) consisting of a clip from a nearly-silent, four-minute segment from an art film that was shot in 1982, showing Warhol eating a Whopper. 

BK and agency David Miami said that they obtained rights to use the footage, from Swedish director JØrgen Leth’s film “66 Scenes from America,” to command game viewers’ attention by defying the loud, frantic, creative approach that's come to dominate Super Bowl spots. 

The only change: BK superimposed its logo and a campaign hashtag, #EatLikeAndy, as a screen title at the end of the clip. 

“What we love about Andy is what he represents as an art icon and his message about the democratization of art,” said Marcelo Pascoa, head of global marketing for Burger King. “Just like his art… the Whopper is for everyone. Our commercial is an invitation for everyone in America to Eat Like Andy.” 

The week before the game, Burger King launched a promotion featuring a “mystery box” sent to consumers who ordered at least $10 of BK food through DoorDash. Recipients were instructed to hold onto the boxes until Game Day, because instructions for use would follow. 

We now know that the boxes, delivered over the weekend, contained a vintage Burger Kingbrand paper bag, a white wig designed to replicate Warhol’s unmistakable hairdo and a ketchup bottle, so that fans could recreate the art film clip at home. Oh, yes... the box also included a DoorDash coupon for a free Whopper.

Burger King also released the full four-minute-plus segment of Warhol eating a Whopper online. 

As of early this morning, the 45-second ad had pulled more than 55,000 views on YouTube, and the long version had pulled more than 9,200 views.