Burger King Drops Lowe Lintas Ad Account

Fast-food giant Burger King said it dropped Lowe Lintas & Partners, a unit of the world’s No. 3 advertising group Interpublic Group of Cos., as its ad agency during a review of the chain’s $400-million advertising account. Michael Draznin, a Lowe Lintas spokesman, said its capitalized billings for the account were about $90 million. The Lowe account was primarily for creative work. Burger King spokeswoman Kim Miller said the bulk of the ad budget goes to media buying for broadcast spots. MediaVest, the media-buying arm of agency DMB&B;, will keep the media-buying account, she said. The world’s No. 2 fast-food restaurant chain, owned by British food and drinks company Diageo, has whittled its list of agencies vying for the high-profile account to: Minneapolis-based Campbell Mithun and McCann Erickson Worldwide, both owned by Interpublic, and Grey Worldwide, a unit of Grey Global Group Inc. Miller said Miami-based Burger King, one of the biggest TV advertisers in the U.S., expects to pick a winner for the account in early 2001. Burger King officials have said its “Got the Urge” ad campaign, masterminded by Lowe Lintas, was not yielding the U.S. sales increases the company wanted.