Subservient Chicken

2004

Date: 7 April 2004 · Place: subservientchicken.com, agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Miami · Figures: Crispin Porter + Bogusky, agency · Burger King, client · The Barbarian Group, build studio · Tags: Advertising, Interactive 01. Type a Command, the Chicken Obeys Crispin Porter + Bogusky launches subservientchicken.com on 7 April 2004 to sell Burger King's TenderCrisp chicken sandwich. A man in a chicken suit and garter belt stands in a beige living room. You type a command. He performs it. The site pre-records 300 short clips and matches your input to the nearest one. There is no narrative, no game, no purchase flow. There is a chicken who will jumping-jack, lie down, moonwalk, or salute on demand. 02. The Viral Ad Becomes a Discipline Twenty million unique visitors in the first week. Forum threads compile the full command list. The site stays up for years. CP+B wins every advertising award available. The agency proceeds to industrialise the form for the rest of the decade. Subservient Chicken is the moment a brand campaign becomes indistinguishable from a viral Flash toy. The marketing department is now competing with Newgrounds, with Albino Blacksheep, with the SA Goons. They lose more often than they win, but they are in the game. Sources • Adweek, 'Subservient Chicken at 10' (April 2014) • Crispin Porter + Bogusky case study, Subservient Chicken (2004) • Wired, 'How the Subservient Chicken changed advertising' (April 2004)