In a move that's either sheer marketing genius or a classic blunder that will be retold in business-school classrooms for years, Burger King (NYSE: BKC) is teaming up with Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) to sell Xbox and Xbox 360 games next month throughout its flame-broiled kingdom.
You can rest easy, Electronic Arts (Nasdaq: ERTS). This isn't going to be premium software competition. With names like PocketBike Racer and BigBumpin', the exclusive titles will star Burger King's iconic mascot. They will also retail for as little as $3.99 a game.
Yes, the timing is deliberate. With Sony (NYSE: SNE) and Nintendo releasing their new video-game consoles next month, this is Microsoft's way to get its Xbox 360 name out there through thousands of participating locations.
Working a character into marked-down retail content is clever, though it's clearly not original. I've still got some of those McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) animated videos lying around the house if you want to come over. Those were actually pretty snazzy, produced by the same production team behind Rugrats and The Wild Thornberrys.
On paper, it's a good move for Burger King. It's got a hit with young audiences that are connecting with the King's deadpan shtick, and that's also the ideal crowd to market video games to. Can you imagine what will happen if any of these games are actually somewhat decent? It will drive traffic into the restaurants as it extends the BK brand beyond the eatery.
Then again, it's also easy to see where this could backfire. What if the widespread availability of $3.99 Xbox games cheapens the perceived value of Microsoft's gaming system relative to the new competition? What if the King becomes so much of a sensation that when he crashes and burns -- and all fads do -- that he takes down the Burger King brand with him? These are extreme worst-case scenarios, sure. That doesn't mean they can't happen.
But why wax pessimistic when Burger King is giving us the first glimmer of something special since its sleepy IPO earlier this year? If Burger King lived through the "Where's Herb?" fiasco, why can't it follow its share price and trade in the teens?
You go, King. Speaking of which, where's that "Go" button again?
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Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz does patronize Burger King often, as it's a local company, but he steered way clear of its IPO this year. He does not own shares in any of the companies in this story. He is also part of the
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