Blog : Burger King

Halloween stunt round-up 2016
Laura Blyth

Halloween stunt round-up 2016

Halloween is here and once again it brings the opportunity for brands to show off their fun side with spooky stunts and gory social media campaigns. It’s one topic you really can’t get wrong, whether it’s Burger King trolling its rival or the Vans horror party, many brands roll out a Halloween themed campaign every year. We’ve pulled together our favourite garish stunts for 2016.

 

Terror-ific tiger pumpkins go free at RZSS Edinburgh Zoo

To help celebrate the launch of its latest enclosure, Tiger Tracks, RZSS Edinburgh Zoo offered free entry to children under-15 in exchange for a carved pumpkin. The campaign, launched with Stripe, was such a success, over 1,000 youngsters were given free admission and got up close to some of the world’s most exotic animals including Jambi and Baginda, the zoo’s pair of critically-endangered Sumatran tigers.

tiger tracks pumpkins Edinburgh Zoo

 

Spend the night in Dracula’s castle with Airbnb

Airbnb launched an international competition to give two lucky guests the chance to spend the night in non-other than Mr Dracula’s very own castle tucked away in the mountains of Transylvania. The lucky pair will be hosted by the nephew of Bram Stoker, the author of 19th century gothic novel, Dracula. You can’t get more haunted house than that.

dracula's castle interior

 

House of Vans to host Halloween horror immersive experience

The Haunted House of Vans is a Halloween-themed event being held this weekend at an indoor skatepark in the heart of London. With all things spooky including gory performances and classic horror movies, Vans has pulled out all the stops to throw its loyal customers a truly terrifying Halloween party and of course, the best dressed guest will win an exclusive prize.

house of vans halloween

 

Burger King dressed up as the ghost of McDonalds

Always one for poking fun at its rivals, Burger King dressed up as McDonalds for a truly tongue and cheeky dig at its archenemy. The fast food chain covered a restaurant with a giant ‘bedsheet’ and pitched up a sign that read: “Booooooo! Just kidding, we still flame grill our burgers. Happy Halloween”. Your move McDonalds.

burger-king mcdonalds ghost Halloween stunt

A Whopper of a stunt from Burger King’s PR team
Rachael Stone

A Whopper of a stunt from Burger King’s PR team

A round of applause for the Burger King comms team please. I’ve been following Burger King’s recent stunt like a hawk and boy have they done good.  A quick recap if you’ve been hiding under a rock for the past week; with World Peace Day around the corner, Burger King invited McDonald’s to join them in the ultimate peace treaty – a joint burger. *Takes a moment to ponder the deliciousness that is a combined Big Mac/Whopper*. McDonald’s said no; in a move which could have killed Burger King’s stunt dead. But no, today Burger King made the ultimate move and invited a number of other burger chains to collaborate.

Burger-King-OpenLetter

So why is this so great? Well for a start, this part of their activity was simple and relatively inexpensive, other than some design time, web build and some paid media, it probably cost Burger King nothing at all and imagine the ROI. And they have certainly reaped the rewards; they’ve gained global coverage and positioned themselves as the fun, maverick friend to McDonald’s corporate conglomerate banality.

Now the stunt hasn’t come without critics. It’s been debated and slated by many deeming the activity insensitive and adding that it draws the attention away from an important cause. I’m not sure I agree, I’d be interested to know how many people had World Peace Day at front of mind before Burger King reminded us…

And McDonald’s, oh McDonald’s, what a wasted opportunity. In case you hadn’t noticed, social media users love nothing more than a witty repartee between brands. By all means we don’t imagine for a second that you’d allow the burger to happen, but here was your chance. Surely there’s a community manager with a quick sense of humour and some sass somewhere deep in McDonald’s HQ who could have come to the rescue. There’s a time and a place for the corporate comms team, and this was not it.