BK's 'Whopper Freakout' Wins Grand Effie

NEW YORK Crispin Porter + Bogusky and Burger King won the Grand Effie Award for "Whopper Freakout" at the 41st annual gala at Cipriani here tonight. The Effies honor the year's most effective advertising.

"Burger King won the Grand Effie convincingly due to their boldness and creativity across multiple media platforms, delivering real cultural relevance and, above all, outstanding business results," said Carl Johnson, co-founder of Anomaly and chairman of the board of directors of Effie Worldwide.

Timed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the chain's signature sandwich, the "Whopper Freakout" removed the product from stores and used hidden cameras to capture customers' outraged reactions to the fabricated news that the Whopper was permanently off the menu. TV spots drove traffic to Whopperfreak.out, where consumers could watch an eight-minute documentary of the experiment.

The campaign produced a double-digit increase in BK's quarterly sales.