Interesting that you bring up Ronald McDonald (the other big burger mascot of course). Ronald McDonald is a clown who is supposed to entertain children (and let’s be honest, get them to eat fast food). The difference being that Ronald McDonald’s popularity grew from years of diligent marketing and demographic analysis, whereas the Burger King’s popularity grew through the company’s parodical interpretation of its own mascot.

In the earlier example I provided of ‘Leeroy Jenkins’, the whole World of Warcraft event was completely staged — ‘pushed onto the public’, as you say. CP+B as admitted that they’re targeting an extremely cynical demographic (18-35 year old males), but those are the same males who would see wearing a Burger King mask for Hallowe’en as funny (in an ironic sort of way perhaps).

This is in fact, how the Burger King has a memetic quality. Burger King has pushed a tongue-in-cheek stab at the traditional corporate mascot — but the real irony is that despite Burger King’s ironical stance, their real motivation is still to get 18-35 year old males to identify with “cool uncle King” — and eat the burgers they sell.

Doesn’t the concept of a corporate meme run counterintuitive to the earlier descriptions that you provide? Isn’t the point of a meme that it essentially takes a life of its own and spreads within a community without the aid of corporate dollars who push their products onto the public?

Then again, as I re-read this post, I can’t help but feel that I’m likely missing something and am apparently not part of the “Burger King” king community of inside jokes…