This is poetic justice in a way. The award winning ads from Crispin Porter Bogusky haven't actually worked:

Between 2003 -- the year before Burger King hired Crispin as agency of record -- and 2008, Burger King's share of the burger-chain market fell to 14.2% from 15.6%, according to Technomic, while McDonald's share rose to 46.8% from 43.6%. McDonald's has posted average annual sales growth of 6.3% compared with BK's 2.9% gain during that period.

Now, consider the kind of advertising that McDonald's does: basic, boring stuff that tells you something about the food they sell. Go figure: telling people about your products works better than having creepy ads that people find disturbing.

It's worked out well for the ad agency - I'm sure they've made tons of money. For the client? Not so much. Kind of makes this enthusiasm for "viral ads" look silly, doesn't it?

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