3 examples of ads that deal with sensitive subjects in 2024 - including Burger King

Welcome to the Breakdown, a weekly roundup of the best real-life marketing examples, created for marketers and agency folk that want to create work that actually works.

Briefly is available to everyone - and all of these campaigns are live in Inspo, our own AI-powered case-study finder that adds some flair to every brief. Sign up to try it out.

In this Breakdown, we're looking at ✨ sensitivity ✨ - ads that tread on generally-protected ground for their insights. Often leading to controversy.

1. Burger King feature new mums indulging in a burger

I almost don’t want to wade into this one. But I guess I will.

Without too much personal input, though. I haven’t given birth and never will, so any input I do have doesn’t feel particularly relevant.

These ads have been getting many people on LinkedIn veeeery fired up. And you can understand why. Giving birth is sacred territory. It’s a uniquely beautiful, human, vulnerable, magical, terrifying thing.

The ads, which feature new mums in hospital beds tucking into a burger with their newborn in their arms, are splitting people in a few ways:

• Some think the insight and execution is spot on. There are plenty of people, it seems, who can relate to the feeling of craving something you’ve deliberately avoided for months, and also admire the way that Burger King seem to be celebrating these mothers and the monumental effort - some 7000 calories - that they have just put in.
• Some think the insight is fine, but the execution is off. Comments have been made that even if the insight is true, unhealthy food brands like Burger King simply shouldn’t get involved with this part of the human experience.
• Others think the insight is off, and the execution suffers as a result. Plenty of mums have said that this is the last thing they would have wanted when they gave birth, and that Burger King have misread a room they weren’t invited to.
• There’s another category of responses which is hard to parse. Plenty of people seem disgusted, and the curse of short text comments on social media means it’s hard to tell whether the disgust is aimed at Burger King or at the birth-giving moment being exploited in advertising (the fact that many who fall into this category are inexplicably men doesn’t make this any easier).

The line between appropriate and inappropriate is fuzzy at best. Which parts of the human experience are fair game for brands to build campaigns on? What kind of research (a Mumsnet survey found that 1/3rd of mums wanted a burger after giving birth) justifies work like this?

For what it’s worth, I think the ads are good. There is a real human insight here (more people than not seem to agree that postpartum cravings are very real, even amongst those who don’t like these ads), and I think it’s a bit weird that the ad industry is more than ok with other highly-emotional and sensitive life events being the basis for campaigns (death, marriage, or divorce, for example) but not this one. But as I’ve said, my two cents aren’t really worth the metal they’re made of in this case.

2. Heinz take aim at rebellion

This is definitely lower stakes than the BK ads.

So Heinz have launched a “family” size version of their tomato sauces designed for pasta (rather than ketchup). If you’re like me at all, you might have forgotten that this line existed at all, but Heinz are obviously keen to drive its growth.

Most of the ads are pretty funny. A grandmother who serves herself more sauce than her grandkids. A bride who opts for tomato sauce in her white dress - which inevitably spills and stains.

Here’s the work:

There are two executions, however, that I think do flirt with sensitive subjects. Religion is one - notoriously fraught. Veganism / vegetarianism is another. Also fraught. Our sauce is so good that you’ll renege on your fundamental principles? It’s a funny concept, but when those principles are either religion, or planet-saving, is it as funny? (I think yes, but my point is that dealing with things people care a lot about is risky business).

A nun who doesn’t say grace before tucking in is nothing too crazy, to be fair. A vegan/vegetarian breaking free from their friends and digging into a bolognese (presumably a meaty one) is also not that crazy.

The reason I’ve included this ad is because of the tiny footnote in each asset - “Based on a true story.” It feels almost apologetic - like a pre-warning to those who might get offended, telling them that no no, this actually happened. This isn’t a generalisation, it’s a specific story that we’re retelling. Which, in the light of the BK ad, seems to be a fair strategy?

3. Calm tell some hard-hitting stories

CW: Suicide

Calm (Campaign Against Living Miserably) have released a new film and campaign urging people to reach out to Calm’s helpline, either for themselves or for their friends.

I am a massive sucker for watching friends support each other. Watching a group of young lads be there for a mate, or watching a flatmate ask the horribly difficult questions, because they all care an awful lot, is the kind of storytelling that really gets me.

So it goes without saying, as ever Calm have been able to navigate this very sensitive topic with nuance, realness and humility.

One thing I hate though, is the AI-sounding helpline. I know it’s a real person, and that they sound a bit fake because their job is to speak and listen without judgment (which is what fills a lot of speech with personality), but I found myself hoping for something warmer. It’s a minor nitpick, as is the norm for the Breakdown.

The obvious reason that this campaign doesn’t feel controversial at all is “intent”. Calm are not trying to sell. They’re trying to help. That fact alone means that you’d have to be an awful person to see this campaign as divisive or controversial or out of pocket.

But I think there’s something here that brands who are trying to sell can learn from. And ironically, I think it’s something that the Burger King work actually does well. When you want to wade into sensitive topics, humility is the best weapon you have. It’s not about you. It never was, and it never will be. But if you can help, add to, or support the moment, then I can’t see a moral reason why you shouldn’t be there. There may yet be a business reason why you shouldn’t.