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.
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.