When the commercials were created, Burger King was suffering due to their marketing efforts. The promotion was designed to counter the marketing efforts of McDonald's, which was spending an estimated US$80 to 100 million to promote the McDLT (McDonald's Lettuce and Tomato), and Wendy's, which had found success with its "Where's the beef?" commercials. The Herb commercials, launched in November 1985, were created by the J. Walter Thompson advertising firm at an expense of approximately US$40 million. Donald Dempsey, J. Walter Thompson's Executive Vice President of Marketing, oversaw the creation of the campaign, and it continued under the direction of Tom Sawyer, the company's Vice President of Marketing. Before settling on the name Herb, the firm considered such names as Mitch and Oscar.