12/17/05: A Burger King Christmas! The Burger King "King" ads reflect one of the most successful campaigns in recent memory. Don't deny it, even if you hate him. Personally, I think the whole thing is brilliant. The commercials are most often hilarious, and whatever ad agency Burger King's using has a special talent for merging the King with the chain's assorted move promotions. While I'll never forget the sight of the Burger King King and Darth Vader breathing at each other, the more recent ad featuring a skyscraper-sized Burger King Kong wooing his damsel is equally top notch. Then there's all of those other commercials where the King scores touchdowns and shit. I love it, and apparently, so does the rest of the world: Aside from making the Burger King chain seem inarguably more hip than McDonald's, the King himself made for one of 2005's most popular Halloween costumes. It's the King's world, and we just eat crap in it. When the children of today's youth grow up and start their own stupid nostalgia sites, you can bet on a million tributes to the Burger King King. What these KIDS TODAY might not realize is...the King ain't new. In fact, he's been around for longer than most of his fans have been alive. The original Burger King King was a live action beast played by a real live actor, fronting an assortment of dumb characters meant to give Burger King some means of competing with the hugely successful collection of McDonaldland citizens. In effect, the Burger King King only existed because kids loved Ronald McDonald so much. BK's version of McDonaldland wasn't terribly successful, but the string of oddball ads was large enough and around long enough to merit at least a few special promotions, including the focus of today's commercial: The Burger King Christmas doll. The doll wasn't much, but you don't have to be much to be cute and worth owning. Best of all, those who could think of a place for a Burger King doll in their lives were able to get 'em for free simply by buying ten bucks worth of Burger King gift certificates. I'm really digging this promotion. Granted, nobody was going to get away with giving a kid a Burger King doll as a standalone Christmas gift, but as a stocking stuffer, it sure beat a Hot Wheels car. Click here to download this commercial! (.WMV, 5 MB) ....close this window!