Breaking the mold: Burger King launches new ad campaign
This undated image provided by Burger King shows an advertising campaign image with the Whopper hamburger.(Burger King via AP)


A new advertising campaign for Burger King is breaking the mold.

The burger chain is portraying its Whopper covered in mold in print and TV ads running in Europe and the U.S. The message: Burger King is removing artificial preservatives from its signature burger.

The company, already known for irreverent ad campaigns, turned it up a notch, including a time-lapse of a decaying burger on Twitter. That imagery goes beyond the print ads that show a 28-day-old burger – a week beyond.

The restaurant, based in Miami, Florida, says it has removed artificial preservatives from the Whopper in several European countries – including France, Sweden and Spain – and around 400 of its 7,346 U.S. restaurants. It plans to remove preservatives from Whoppers served in all of its restaurants this year.

The Whopper is topped with onions, lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise and pickles, all of which will contain no artificial preservatives.

Burger King says it has also removed artificial colors and flavors from all of its sandwiches and sides in some European markets and the U.S.

McDonald's announced in 2018 that it was removing artificial colors, flavors and preservatives from seven of its burgers.