Burger King’s latest ad is let's just say, far from appetizing. It in no way makes you want to run out and grab a Whopper….but the message should.

The burger chain is now portraying a Whopper covered in mold in both print and TV ads running in the U.S. as well as Europe. The ad is time lapse showing the freshly made Whopper morph into the yucky moldy version over time. The nasty deterioration is over a 34-day time span.  And why? It's all about healthy choices.

The “Moldy Whopper” is part of a new campaign sending a message that the brand has eliminated and removed all artificial preservatives from its iconic sandwich. So far the chain says it’s removed artificial preservatives from the Whopper in several European countries and around 400 of its 7,346 U.S. restaurants.

According to USA Today, Burger King has established that more than 90% of food ingredients at their restaurants will be free from artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives, while 100% of ingredients won’t contain MSG or high-fructose corn syrup.

As always, competition is strong in the fast food industry. McDonald’s announced back in 2018 that it was removing artificial colors, flavors and preservatives from seven of its burgers. Still is was a burger from McDonald's that went viral earlier this year due to being 20 years old and basically unchanged in appearance. The company commented that in that case it was due to proper conditions and in the right environment, specifically “without moisture.” Yep

Burger King is hoping the yuck will lead to the healthy yum.

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