Burger chain flattens restaurant to launch smash burger

A&W Canada has condensed an entire Toronto restaurant to mark the arrival of its first nationwide smash burger.

For one day only, the chain’s King Street West spot looked as though it had been caught in a giant burger press, with distorted signage, compressed furniture, bent trays and twisted decor. Even Rooty, A&W’s long-running root bear mascot, appeared flattened.

The compacted storefront anchored a 360 campaign built on the messy reality of eating a burger this good.

video via fred.bk

Rather than lean on the usual QSR beauty shot, the work across video, out of home and social makes the aftermath of a polished-off burger the hero, echoing the appetite-led thinking behind Burger King’s silent Whopper ad.

The activation handed out free Double Smash Burgers ahead of the May 25 launch.

The work continues the agency’s playful streak seen in Rethink’s recent Heinz packaging.

“When A&W decided to be the first QSR to market with a smash burger, we wanted to create a campaign that took the concept of smashed to its literal extreme,” said Skye Deluz, creative director at Rethink.

“We wanted to build on that momentum by giving an entire restaurant the ‘smash’ treatment, delivering the LTO Canadians have been asking for in a completely unexpected way,” said Tom Newitt, VP of marketing at A&W Canada.