Forty-five seconds of Andy Warhol eating a Whopper is brave advertising even for Burger King. But it’s not madness. Nor is it out of character for the brand, that has been peppering advertising with wild and wacky stunts for years.

“The spot was meant to break through the traditional Super Bowl commercial break, filled with explosions, slapstick jokes and celebrities, with an almost silent, yet powerful work of art,” Burger King stated in its press release.

Yes, if you’re spending millions to put your ad in a show brimming with ads you want to stand out. And if you’re advertising fast food at peak time for fast food desire, you want to be noticed. The campaign heading and hashtag, #EatLIkeAndy, does seem to tap into one of the more abysmal features of pop culture – celebrity mimicry, but if it’s there why not use it. The spot also says that Burger King is quintessential America. This is the right time to spruik that (not to mention a decent jab at its main competitor). And for those with more culture in their pop knowledge, there’s a famous Warhol’s quote standing behind the spot, “What’s great about this country is that America started the tradition where the richest consumers buy essentially the same things as the poorest.” That thought is popular with a capital “P” today.

The clip that Burger King used comes from a 1982 documentary, 66 Scenes from America by Danish director, Jorgen Leth. The film is a montage of sixty-six visual snapshots, each of which represents an aspect of Americana. Andy Warhol’s footage is 4.38 seconds long. Burger King did nothing to change the nature of the footage for its Super Bowl spot. It just edited the clip to fit.

https://youtu.be/8fIfPKpY7HQ

The brand is also showing the full-length video online.

https://youtu.be/WUv0L999FBs

Before the Super Bowl, Burger King released five teaser videos of its king mascot preparing and sitting behind the table Warhol used in the clip.

https://youtu.be/v68ANY62PC0

No-one could have guessed what was to come.