Wine pairings. Beer pairings. Soft drink pairings?

Have a look at this picture captured at a Burger King soft drink dispenser.

In an age of wine pairings, beer pairings, and even coffee pairings, do we really think this soft-drink pairing chart will persuade many customers which soft drink to pair with their 1200-calorie sandwich? Do we think the King really spent hours trying to figure out which soda fully complemented your paper-lined, vinyl tray dining experience?

Probably not, but this sticker got a reaction from me, and in a world where the consumer has been conditioned to ignore thousands of marketing messages a day, that’s a good thing.

What's more, this pairing chart brought the irrelevant tone and spirit of the advertising into the store in a natural way. A more obvious approach, to instead say Coke® is Refreshing with a Whopper®, would appear corporate and patronizing. We hand it to Burger King for small details that make a difference.

- Contributed by Tony Fuller

 

Comments

[Tom Fitzjerrells]

At a Burger king I was in last week they had a sticker by the fountain drinks with recipes for different soft drink combinations. It reminded me of making suicides(mixing a little of every soda in one cup) when we were kids. Burger King has done a great job at injecting their overall brand personality into the POP environment. The trash cans even have messaging that says something like, "Throw it in, toss it in, just get it in here."

[Paul Ballew]

I agree that the "pairings" signage works well with the cheeky BK positioning (especially the mixing of fountain drinks). Perhaps an even more engaging way to create these would involve asking customers to make their own pairings creations and post those instead.
Secondarily, these activities suggest that a collaborative marketing approach from BK(retailer) and Coke (supplier) can be very effective in altering in-store purchase behaviors. When both retailer and supplier can agree and align on their objectives from the start, the end product can be rewarding for all - most importantly the shopper.