Y&R was only awarded the account in April 2003 after a major review following the sale of Burger King by Diageo to venture capital firm Texas Pacific Partners.
Brad Blum, chief executive officer of Burger King, indicated that Y&R had not been delivering for the burger chain. He said Burger King must have "groundbreaking, results-orientated and innovative advertising", which connects with its core consumers.
He said he was looking for Crispin Porter + Bogusky to deliver the same kind of results it had delivered for clients such as BMW's Mini and Ikea, for which the agency won the Cannes Grand Prix at the advertising festival in 2003.
"We must have the kind of results that Crispin Porter + Bogusky has proven it can deliver. It has already sold out the BMW Mini, convinced teenagers that it's not smart to smoke and made Ikea the place to buy furniture. We will expect them to deliver the same type of results for Burger King restaurants," Blum said.
The agency was also strongly praised by Burger King chief marketing officer Russ Klein who said that Crispin Porter brought a "warrior mentality" and "ground-up branding approach", which provided a great fit with the burger giant's business.
Last year was a highly successful year for the Miami-based independent. Not only did the agency's Ikea "lamp" TV ad win the Grand Prix but its print work for Mini also garnered plaudits across the globe. Outstanding creative work for other clients included anti-smoking work for the American Legacy Foundation, Bell Helmets, Giro and the Florida Department of Health.
This helped it to be recognised as the most awarded agency in the world for 2003 by the just released Gunn Report. The Gunn Report is an annual tabulation of the top 32 television and 20 print competitions around the globe.
Jeff Hicks, president and chief executive officer of Crispin Porter + Bogusky, said: "As we listened to the vision that Brad Blum, Russ Klein and others on the executive team outlined, it became clear that we could have an immediate and positive impact by bringing Burger King Corporation's new traffic-driving initiatives to life."
Burger King has said it will continue to work with Y&R's below-the-line agency Wunderman and media planning and buying, handled by sister WPP media agency MindShare, is not affected by the review.
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