• by Fern Siegel , October 16, 2023

Burger King is using the Halloween season to launch its version of a ghostly menu: Ghost Pepper Whopper and Ghost Pepper Chicken Fries.

And in keeping with the spooky theme, Dentsu Creative produced a 60-second horror spot, released Friday, the 13th. Wild Gift Content added production, while Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, known for "The Current War," directed.

Utilizing a classic horror movie trope — a terrifying phone call to a woman alone in a house — "The Call" runs in select movie theaters. A spooky version of “Whopper Whopper” jingle plays whenever food appears.

"The Call" was shot on the same California set location used to film "Jeepers Creepers." The car was featured in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer."

The Burger King "You Rule" positioning is all about putting customers first, so the creative had to have an audience-first lens and beats of "now-stalgia," says Bridget Jewell, executive creative director, Dentsu Creative Social Creative Lab.

"We don’t want Burger King fans to just watch the story. We want them to experience it for themselves. So we’re spreading the scare by daring fans to answer the call IRL," she adds.

Burger King fans can also visit TheCall.BK.com to receive a custom-personalized call ahead of Halloween by providing a name and phone number.

The fast-food chain is in the second year of its “Reclaim the Flame” plan, which promotes a new marketing perspective and a prototype restaurant referred to internally as "Sizzle."