Do You Want A Moldy Whopper? Burger King Runs Bizarre Ad Campaign After Removing Preservatives

Burger King is attempting to sell customers on its efforts to remove artificial preservatives and additives from its menu in a strange and deliberately gross way. In the new ad campaign, the company shows a time-lapse of a preservative-free Whopper decaying and being overtaken by green, fuzzy mold over the course of 34 days, set to Dina Washington’s “What a Difference a Day Makes.”

The bizarre ad’s tagline touts, “The beauty of no artificial preservatives.”

It may seem counter-intuitive for a fast-food chain to present hungry customers with a revolting vision of their most iconic foods, but Burger King is hoping the ad’s message will speak to modern tastes. Parent company Restaurant Brands International cites research that shows millennials are increasingly more likely to buy healthier and more organic foods.

Millennial parents, in particular, were found to be 57% more likely to buy such foods now than they were five years ago, a YouGov survey commissioned by Whole Foods indicated. A Nielsen report also indicated younger customers were more willing to pay higher prices for natural foods.

“We believe that real food tastes better,” Restaurant Brands International Global Chief Marketing Officer Fernando Machado said in a statement. “That's why we are working hard to remove preservatives, colors and flavors from artificial sources from the food we serve in all countries around the world.”

Burger King said preservative-free Whoppers currently are available at more than 400 locations across the U.S. It plans to roll out the offering to the rest of the country by the end of the year.