BK Haunts McDonald’s with Scary Clown Night

“Come as a clown, eat like a king.” That’s the tagline behind Burger King’s Halloween marketing campaign that takes a jab at the fast food chain’s chief rival and its iconic clown mascot.

The campaign includes this digital ad playing up the creepiness of clowns, and an offer of free Whoppers for the first 500 people who show up dressed as clowns on Halloween. Burger King is also encouraging people to share their scary clown costume pics on social media using the hashtag #ScaryClownNight.

In our modern age where clowns are viewed as creepy as often as they are fun (especially with the success of the recent move IT), using the spooky season as an opportunity to undermine a competitor’s iconic spokesclown is a sly move. And one that will no doubt earn BK some solid online buzz.