McDonald's and Burger King at war over AI-generated posters
Their latest weapon? ChatGPT.
Whenever a new technology (or meme format) drops, it's only ever a matter of time until the brands get involved. AI chatbot ChatGPT has been making waves online for a few months now, but it's only just starting to enter the corporate realm. And now, it's the latest ammunition in the never-ending burger wars.
That's right, McDonald's has used ChatGPT to create a typographical poster asking 'What is the most iconic burger in the world?' And almost immediately, Burger King has responded with its own, with the follow-up question, 'And which is the biggest?' (Looking for more inspiration? Check out the best print ads ever).
The ads themselves are pleasingly minimal, letting the text do all the talking – although it's a nice touch to see the font colour change to represent the various layers of a Big Mac and a Whopper. The text itself is also as simple and informative as you'd expect from ChatGPT, describing the history of the Big Mac ("First introduced in 1967, etc.), and the, er, size of the Whopper ("a robust and satisfying Burger").
Really, the impressive thing here is how quickly agency David São Paulo reacted, with the Burger King poster popping up next to the McDonald's ad just one day later. Right now, the two ads are sitting side-by-side across São Paulo. If we were to nitpick, we'd say it's pretty obvious that Burger King used a more comprehensive text prompt than the poster suggests (which is the biggest what?) – but hey, it's all a bit of fun.
We've seen plenty of brand beef between Burger King and McDonald's, from the former's Mouldy Whopper ad to those burning posters. But when it comes to the meatier design work – the full brand identity – we reckon Burger King still has the edge.
Get the Creative Bloq Newsletter
Daily design news, reviews, how-tos and more, as picked by the editors.
Thank you for reading 5 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription
Join now for unlimited access
Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
Daniel John is Design Editor at Creative Bloq. He reports on the worlds of design, branding and lifestyle tech, and has covered several industry events including Milan Design Week, OFFF Barcelona and Adobe Max in Los Angeles.