Do Gross Video Techniques Work?
Have you seen the Burger King moldy Whopper video? If not, search for it on YouTube and see it for yourself. Do you think it works? 
Burger King is trying to demonstrate that they are no longer using artificial preservatives in their hamburgers. The video is a 34-day time lapse of the burger getting fuzzy and looking totally inedible. Under the transformation is the song “What a Difference a Day Makes.”
I think this is great. It certainly holds your attention because it is not something you normally see. It totally breaks through the burger advertising clutter. And it leaves you with a lasting impression, which reminds you that Burger King is not using artificial preservatives.
Another way to tell if it is working: More than 1.2 million people have watched. It’s like buying a prime-time cable commercial. It also has more than 6,000 likes on an Instagram post by Creative Review.
Yes, it’s gross. Yet it is wonderfully authentic and undeniably original. It’s “The Beauty of No Artificial Preservatives.” It’s the moldy Whopper. Eat one today.
Mark Mathis
Mark wrote his first direct-mail fundraising letter in 1981 for the University of Iowa Center for Advancement. The effort raised a few million dollars in undiscovered wills and legacy gifts. From that day forward Mark discovered a love of the big idea that moves the needle.
After 12 years at KWWL, Mark became a business owner as a co-founder of ME&V — rebranded as AMPERAGE in 2015. After 25 years of leading creative teams in video production, graphic design, PR, writing and web development, Mark transitioned out of ownership in 2021. Today he serves in an employee role as special projects consultant.
He is creatively ambidextrous — son of an artist and engineer — and famous for distilling complex ideas down to a few words and a few visuals. Mark is a writer. When he found that many nonprofits struggled with complex branding puzzles, he wrote the book, “NonProfit-NonMarketing .” He also wrote a novel called “Reenactment.”
Mark is an active blogger OneMinuteMarketer® with nearly 1,000 readers each week on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter. One of his most popular YouTube videos is on “How to Look Good on Zoom.”
One of Mark’s fondest business memories was being named to INC 500 two times and attending the INC 500 conference with other winners. Mark is considered by some a Civil War expert (and that explains his novel). Mark also served as an adjunct professor in the business and in the communications departments at Wartburg College.
Mark is a graduate of the University of Iowa and is currently vice president of the University of Iowa Journalism and Mass Communications Advisory Board.
Mark is married to state Sen. Liz Mathis, and the two love to travel, even when it means being trapped by a volcano in the Czech Republic for three weeks.