Burger King restaurants across Scandinavia are pu-lling a bizarre Halloween stu-nt. Hidden microphones in the toilets of certain Burger King outlets in Sweden and Denmark are listening to for the phrase “cancelled clo-wn.”
If someone says the phrase three times the lights will dim and a spo-oky app-arition will manifest itself “behind” a specially-treated mirror.
Added sound effects create the atmosphere of a haunted bathroom – with a te-rrifying zomb!e cl-own lurking in the shadow world the other side of the glass.
The reference to the “Bl*ody Mary” urban legend made famous by movies like Paranormal Activity and Candyman is all part of the friendly r!valry between Burger King and McDonald’s.
Referring to the scaling back of Maccy-D’s mascot Ronald McDonald in the wake of a sp-ate of “sca-ry cl-own” sightings in 2016, this year Burger King is bringing back Ronald’s “ghost.” “A few years ago, a particular clo-wn got abruptly ‘cancelled’ from his long-standing job at a certain hamburger chain,” Burger King explained in a press release accompanying the campaign.
“But this Ha-lloween he is back …at Burger King restrooms. If you do dare to summon him, it might be worth your while.”There’s no information on what diners will get, beyond a te-rrifying vision in the mirror. Daniel Schröder, marketing director at Burger King Sweden, said: “The clo-wn doesn’t seem to be happy with the way things ended. But we hope he finds his peace and can move on to bigger and better things.”
In the US, Burger King is running some different, slightly less spo-oky Halloween-themed marketing. There, diners are invited to drive to abandoned McDonald’s restaurants in order to cla!m a voucher for a free Burger King Whopper. The Cancelled Clo-wn promotion is the most elaborate Burger King scheme for trolling their rivals, but it’s not the che-ekiest.
That crown has to go to Burger King Finland, who offered customers free delivery if they ordered their takeaway to be sent to a McDonald’s, and it placed ads for the scheme outside McDonald’s restaurants.
This Article First Published On DAILYSTAR