International round-up: Burger King angers Belgium & Coke turns labels into festival wristbands

Plus the anti-terror ad gaining popularity in the Middle East, PwC acquiring design agency Pond and ISIS using fake eBay and Gumtree ads to lure victims.

Burger King loses its royal title

Burger King has come under fire this week after offending the Belgium monarchy in its latest advertising campaign.

The campaign asks customers to vote online to crown the country’s king, King Phillipe, or Burger King as the ruler of Belgium. It was probably not the wisest of moves as the fast food giant intends to launch in Belgium next month.

Representatives for King Phillipe asked the company to explain itself and to highlight that the king’s image could not be used by the business. However, Burger King made light of the matter, although it did announce King Philippe as Beligum’s chosen King.

“After a few twists and turns and a worldwide media coverage, Burger king decided to conform to the popular vote that chose King Philippe of Belgium with a narrow majority,” Burger King says in a statement.

As a consequence, Burger King said it would give up its title and change its logo.

Coke targets teens with music festival wristbands

Coke is targeting teens in Romania with labels that can be turned into music festival wristbands. The detachable labels double up as wristbands, enabling winners to get into selected festivals, one of which is Transylvania’s Untold.

Customers will have to use a downloadable Coke app to determine whether or not their bottle includes a winning ticket.

According to Mashable, the ad campaign was prompted by market research showing that four in 10 Romanian teens hadn’t drank Coke in the last month.

READ MORE: Coke is printing music festival wristbands on its bottles in Romania

Anti-terror ad goes viral in the Middle East 

Kuwaiti telecom company Zain has launched an anti-terror TV ad that has gone viral in the Middle East.

The three-minute video, which was launched on Saturday, the start of Ramadan, features a suicide bomber being challenged by victims of terrorism, including the voice of a child.

The video focuses on the aftermath of a bus bombing, with the suicide bomber walking through the carnage and looking at the injured people, one of which is a young boy who resembles Omran Daqneesh, a child whose image went viral after being rescued from Aleppo.

The ad’s message is to fight against terrorism with love, as a singer famous in Emirati sings “Worship your God with love, with love not terror. Be tender in your faith, gentle not harsh. Confront your enemy, with peace not war.”

The ad has been viewed almost 4.2 million times on YouTube.

READ MORE: The anti-terror ad going viral in the Middle East

Deloitte and PwC make further advertising pushes

PwC and Deloitte have acquired agencies Market Gravity and Pond as they make further pushes into the advertising industry.

Pond has worked with clients including Volkswagen and Jameson. The deal is the latest in a series of acquisitions aimed at helping PwC compete with traditional ad agencies. Other acquisitions include cloud computing specialist NSI DMCC, UK cybersecurity and privacy consultants Everett and creative agency Fluid.

Deloitte is following suit with the acquisition of Market Gravity, a proposition design consultancy that will allow Deloitte to combine its consultancy skills with Market Gravity’s design skills.

“We are really excited to be joining forces with Deloitte. Excited about the growth opportunities it brings us as a business and the opportunities this creates for our clients around the world,” Peter Sayburn, chief executive officer and founding partner at Market Gravity, comments.

ISIS is using fake eBay and Gumtree ads to lure victims

ISIS is encouraging its followers to place fake ads on sites such as Gumtree, eBay, Craigslist and Loot in an attempt to capture hostages. The group is detailing how to advertise on the sites through the group’s online propaganda magazine, Rumiyah.

The magazine includes translated excerpts, such as: “Advertising a fake job by way of posting one’s ad at a local unemployment center will undoubtedly attract a response, and one may then filter out one’s sought after target by advertising a job that is likely to attract that type of person.”

A spokesperson for Gumtree said customers need to report anything suspicious to them: “We also encourage people to report any suspected unlawful activity to the police. We encourage all users to visit our help section for tips on how to have a safe and successful experience and to be vigilant when using any online marketplace.”

READ MORE: ISIS uses fake eBay and Gumtree ads to lure victims

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