Burger King has been named as Cannes Lions Creative Marketer of the Year for 2017, following in the footsteps of recent winners Samsung and Heineken.

Previous Creative Marketers of the Year include Mars, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s and Ikea.

Cannes Lions said the fast food chain has been selected for “embracing and encouraging creativity across [its] brand communications” and for the “inspiring global marketing” of its products.

It follows the success of Burger King’s successful ‘McWhopper’ campaign, by Y&R New Zealand, which was the most awarded campaign over the past 12 months, according to the recent Gunn Report.

It picked up two Grand Prix awards in Cannes Lions’ ‘Print & Publishing and Media’ category in 2016.

Burger King chief marketing officer Axel Schwan and head of brand marketing Fernando Machado will collect the award during the event in June.

Schwan commented: “Creativity is a critical factor when it comes to helping us stand out from the pack and punch higher than our weight. This principle is applied to everything we do, from the way we differentiate ourselves by flame-grilling our burgers to the ground-breaking advertising campaigns we create.”

Machado added: “This award is a tribute to the consistently strong creative work done by the Burger King brand over time.”