It was an image that made headlines the world over, and here, Burger King’s CMO Fernando Machado tells the story behind the​ Moldy Whopper campaign, a collaboration between INGO Stockholm, David The Agency Miami and Publicis.

The striking image racked up 8.4bn impressions and was the subject of international press discussion and public debate. “If we try and put a message out in a very flat, boring way it doesn’t work for our brand,” says Machado, revealing that the board is used to his approach and trusted what some might have viewed as risky.

The company liked the idea for a long time but waited until the burger was fully reworked with clean ingredients so they were in line with the current consumer desire for transparency. The resulting campaign was a combination of creative from a total of three agencies: Publicis, Ingo and David Miami. Machado reveals that he prefers nimble, adaptable, loyal, small to medium-sized agencies and once he has a good relationship with a contact there, that’s what comes first.

He also praises the craft and execution of the idea which compels the viewer to watch the burger decay or to spend time with the poster; with the imagery making the unappealing sight of decaying food almost beautiful. This fun, self-deprecating, shareable, headline-making campaign is on brand, creative and will be talked about for decades.

Created in partnership with Adobe