60: The story behind the Mouldy Whopper with Fernando Machado, ex-Burger King CMO

We’ve posed as a jester in the throne room of the Burger Kingdom to nab the recently abdicated and most influential CMO and brand genius in the industry; the mind behind the Mouldy Whopper, Fernando Machado.   A global marketer with enough Lions to rival Joe Exotic, Fernando has recently tucked into a new role as CMO at Activision Blizzard. At the time of recording, Fer was CMO at Restaurant Brands International, serving up great creative work for Burger King, Popeyes and Tim Hortons.    So, pull up to the next window and pick-up Fer’s final flame-grilled interview* pre-abdicating. We chat on his obsession with creativity, how to make the case for creativity, the role of the CMO, why Mouldy Whopper was never a risk, brand heritage, cancel culture, Bill Bernbach, Dads in Briefs and the cliff divers of Acapulco.   Do you want fries with that?      *probably /////   Follow Fernando on Twitter   Check out The One Club for Creativity  BGH Air Conditioners: Dads in Briefs      Fernando’s book recommendations are: Bill Bernbach's Book by Bob Levenson  The Copy Book by D&AD   /////