Perhaps the only thing that lasted longer than Colin Firth’s award winning movie was CP+B’s hold on the Burger King account. In my humble opinion, I think both went on a touch too long.

Clearly, the award judges did not agree, but I would suggest that a slightly shorter movie would have sold more tickets and a shorter run with the King would have sold more burgers, to more people, for more money. Think about it, Burger King has the very best tasting burger, yet trails the leader and many upstarts in most every way that you can count. They have slid into an essential tie with Wendy’s for a distant third when McDonald’s has never been stronger and the burger has never had a bigger hey day in our society – from gourmet to sliders.

The ad industry is in a flurry. Some are trying to use this as a platform to stand up for the art of what we do (read: kissing Crispin’s butt.) Some are jumping on the band wagon to kick them as they show a rare wound (read: shame on you Groupon CEO.) The rest are just scrambling to put together their retail/QSR credentials for a quick send off to Miami (read: no consultant review.)

Adweek just reported on the top 15 campaigns Crispin did for Burger King in the last 7 years. Chickens, Virgins, Freak-outs et al. It was really some memorable work. More amazing though was how many more did not make the list – from the original office series to the strange little Mexican dude to the Coq Rock band to the odd salad fashion sacks. When you add these to the numerous product introductions, one can easily count closer to 35 campaigns in that same period – and that is conservative. All clever, perhaps, but nothing consistent. When you compare that to the intense focus of a McDonald’s and Papa John’s – big growth in same time – one has to wonder if the last 7 years was the clearest case of “Art > Commerce” that the industry has ever seen.

To the many that will claim I don’t appreciate great work, I would argue that great work has to work great – or it isn’t that great after all. Let’s look beyond the surface of the BK work for a moment:

• People speak of the commercials and viral campaigns, but no longer speak of the food.
• The burger is the broadest appeal platform, yet the so called “social anthropologists” simply created limitations.
• The goal appeared to be more about making us talk instead of making us hungry.
• BK is more slave to their value menu than ever before and far more than McDonald’s who invented the concept.
• The King was creepy from the beginning. Cool teens could not buy enough video games to offset the loss of young kids and families.

I love art, but art must serve commerce or it ends up simply framed on the wall of a building that can’t pay its rent. Let this be a wake up call for all of us. To Burger King, focus on addressing the real drivers of what makes a QSR successful. To the industry, never lose sight of not just what we really do for a living, but why we do it. To CP+B, remember that the Crispin brand should never outshine the brands of their clients — and to allow the K-k-k-king to #RIP.