The Best Marketing Stories of the Week, Feb. 17-21

Your weekly roundup discusses some boneless Bones; a revolting, rotting burger; Apple weighing non-native app default status; and more

Bone Thugs Go Boneless

According to marketing materials released by Buffalo Wild Wings, the rap group Bone Thugs-N-Harmony has changed its name to Boneless Thugs-N-Harmony. Three members of the group also changed their names, to reflect their new reality: Krayzie Boneless, Flesh-N-Boneless and Wish Boneless. The fourth member, Layzie Bone, opted out of the branded tie-in name change. Buffalo Wild Wings’ CMO said of the name change: “These boneless wings are so good, what if they made Bone Thugs-N-Harmony have an identity crisis.” Boneless Thugs-N-Harmony will sell merchandise featuring the new name, including a golden boneless chicken chain.

Apple Offers Non-Apple Products the Chance at Default Status

Native Apple mobile apps, including Safari and iTunes, have long been the default apps embedded into the iOS DNA. But reportedly the company is weighing allowing users to change those settings, paving the way for Chrome, Spotify and more to leave their mark. This shift in strategy opens the doors for new third party apps to attract users via targeted marketing efforts without the constant fight against Apple’s restrictions. It also abates concerns about potential antitrust actions that Apple might face. These changes also apply to Apple’s voice assistant device, known as a HomePod, and it hopes sales of that product will increase as a result.

Most Artificial Preservatives Purged From Burger King Menu; New Ad Campaign Follows

Burger King is banking on the uglier side of its food in a new global marketing campaign. In highlighting the fact that 90% of the company’s food is completely free of artificial preservatives, Burger King’s new ads depict a Whopper after sitting out for 34 days. The burger is riddled with green, furry mold, its lettuce wilted and pale—all depicted in extreme close-up. This strategy to adopt more natural ingredients, driven by shifting consumer preference, has been adopted by other fast food chains in the past. McDonald’s has extracted less-than-savory ingredients from its food over the course of a few years, and Chipotle uses only citrus as a preservative these days. Scientists and nutrition experts remain cautiously optimistic that these changes will improve.

The Marketing of Women’s Genital Shame

Self-labeled “wellness” companies are selling more products such as vulva masks and labia serums that capitalize on women’s insecurities with the most intimate parts of their bodies. The marketing and selling of these quick-fix products “under the guise of self-care,” the author writes, exacerbates female consumers’ deepest anxieties about their own bodies and persuades them to buy more. The market for these products is clearly growing, but what troubling precedent is set by the language used, which “treads a fine line between being scientific-sounding and vague enough to avoid legal action”?

Peer-to-Peer Texts the Latest Campaign Marketing Trend

Democratic and Republican campaigns are sending voters unsolicited text messages to personal phones, according to The Wall Street Journal. Campaigns are expected to scrape data from voter registration files, event attendee lists or survey respondent records for phone numbers. There are no federal guidelines that say whether these messages require consumer consent.