Beckham "take off my shirt" ads for the girls: jokey Steve Tyler is more for the guys

Ted MarzilliCEO YouGov Direct
June 13, 2012, 5:13 PM GMT+0

Coinciding with ads urging soccer star David Beckham to take off his shirt, women’s perception of Burger King has heated up over the past three weeks in the US, while the earlier Steven Tyler spots have had a similar effect on men.

As a matter of fact, women have had better perception of Burger King than men for nearly the entire year.

For the first half of May while the Tyler spots aired, men’s favorable perception levels of Burger King almost doubled, yet falling just short of the average score of top national QSR chains. During that time period, female perception remained at an even keel, closely aligning with the top national QSR chain average.

However, once the “take off my shirt” Beckham ads arrived, women’s perception went into gear, rising to a peak at the end of May and tracking way above the top national QSR chain average to this day.

Beckham cooled off men’s perception but those levels are still substantially above where it had been before the entire campaign began.

Burger King and the top national QSR brands were measured with YouGov BrandIndex’s Buzz score, which asks respondents: “If you've heard anything about the brand in the last two weeks, through advertising, news or word of mouth, was it positive or negative?” The top national QSR brand average includes include Pizza Hut, McDonald’s, Papa John’s, Arby’s, Taco Bell, KFC, Domino’s, Popeyes, Long John Silver, Chipotle and others.

YouGov BrandIndex measurement scores range from 100 to -100 and are compiled by subtracting negative feedback from positive. A zero score means equal positive and negative feedback.

At the beginning of May, Burger King had a wide perception gap between men and women – women’s buzz score was 64 while men was 34, with the top national QSR chain average at 57.

Men’s buzz score rode all the way up from 34 to 60 on May 16th, seemingly timed with Tyler’s antics on the airwaves. The score fell just short of the national top QSR average that day of 63. Burger King’s current buzz score with men is 50, considerably well above where it was in early May.

Right about the time the men’s score peaked in mid-May, women’s perception began soaring from 65 to a 76 peak two weeks later on May 29th. The women’s buzz score is now 69, creating a 19 point gap with men’s perception, while tracking eight points above the national top QSR average.