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Belgian Monarchy in Spat With Burger King

Over online ad putting King Philippe on par with the chain’s king.

The Belgian royal family has taken issue with a Burger King advertisement challenging King Philippe’s authority in favor of that of the burger chain. The advertisement, displayed on the whoistheking.be website, asks visitors to vote on who they’d rather see in charge—King Philippe or Burger King. Those who select a cartoon image of King Philippe are then presented with the question, “Are you sure you want to elect King Philippe? He won’t be the one to cook your fries.” The advertisement appears to be aimed at building up hype for the opening of the burger chain’s first Belgian outlet in June. But the Belgian monarchy did not take the online advertising campaign lightly. “We disapprove of this approach. The use of the King's image is subject to authorization,” royal spokesman Pierre Emmanuel de Bauw told Agence France-Presse. “In this particular case, we received no requests. Since it is for commercial purposes, we would not have given our authorization,” he said. The royal family has contacted Burger King with its complaints, he said.