Whopper Severance
In August, Burger King came out with a super unique and funny way to promote their brand. The campaign was called "Whopper Severance", and involved people sharing their personal stories about getting fired on social media sites. The first 2500 people to publicly tell their story about getting fired would have the opportunity to get a free Whopper, and it sparked lots of attention and involvement.
This is an example of one of the Linked In posts that someone made. This one was light-hearted, funny, interesting, and the user included #WhopperSeverance. People were then able to click on the hashtag and look at all of the stories that were posted, and if you were lucky, Burger King would send you a link for a free Whopper. This was a great example of a virtually free and easy way to get people to talk about their brand, without being too overbearing or intrusive. Many of the posts were entertaining and relatable, and others were just strange.
Sources:
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/299552
http://creativity-online.com/work/burger-king-whopper-severance/52544
I think this is such an awesome use of social media! Burger King has provoked consumer participation with little to no cost to them! All while exposing so many more eyes to the Burger King brand. It is a light humored campaign and associates Burger King with a positive connotation. All around a really awesome digital marketing technique!
ReplyDeleteI love how companies such as Burger King and other restaurants are increasing their appearance on Twitter. Many times I've seen restaurants tweet other restaurants making funny comments or going back and forth. It draws the attention of many people since its so comical and entertaining. But this #WhopperSeverance thing is very entertaining and I'm sure many people who come across the tweets while hungry will definitely entertain the thought of going to buy food from there.
ReplyDeleteI have mixed feelings about this. I think it's funny, but it's a strange strategy. I would never want to post about being fired on my LinkedIn and I wouldn't want to associate my brand with something as upsetting as losing a job. This did bring a lot of attention to Burger King, however I'm not sure if it was all positive attention that they received.
ReplyDeleteObviously Burger King would receive attention for this, but I agree that I wouldn't want my brand to be associated with people getting fired, and proceeding to turn that firing into a trending hashtag movement. Companies can be actively present on social media without offering Whoppers to their now ex-employees. Wendy's does a great job on Twitter gaining traffic concerning their war with McDonalds because it's actually funny, savage, blunt content.
ReplyDeleteI love this marketing campaign that Burger King put into place! As we all know, this generation is infatuated with sharing everything of our personal lives. We are also enthralled with social media. By combining these two components, Burger King captured a way to allow potential customers get lost in other people's stories while seeing a promotion for their brand in every story (#WhopperSeverance). I did not even read any of the stories, and it has even made me want to drive to Burger King for a Whopper! ;)
ReplyDeleteThe main thing that I like about this is that it's a totally unconventional idea that has nothing to do with the brand of Burger King. They really thought outside the box with this campaign to increase customer engagement with their brand. The part that I didn't like is that people were sharing stories of being fired on LinkedIn-- which mixes funny storytelling and a professional platform that future employers look at. But I guess it was their own choice for posting it on LinkedIn as opposed to Twitter or Facebook!
ReplyDeleteI think this marketing campaign in hysterical, but as someone soon to be searching for a job, I wouldn't want an entire social media network knowing why I got fired or a company knowing I made a joke out of getting fired. I'm sure this campaign increased their brand awareness greatly and was super cool to use something so unrelated to their brand to promote. Whoever came up with the idea was super creative but I definitely think there could be mixed reviews from other companies/employers reacting to the campaign. Then again, it is their decision to post!
ReplyDeleteI think this marketing campaign in hysterical, but as someone soon to be searching for a job, I wouldn't want an entire social media network knowing why I got fired or a company knowing I made a joke out of getting fired. I'm sure this campaign increased their brand awareness greatly and was super cool to use something so unrelated to their brand to promote. Whoever came up with the idea was super creative but I definitely think there could be mixed reviews from other companies/employers reacting to the campaign. Then again, it is their decision to post!
ReplyDeleteThis was a great post because it showed how a company in one industry can be innovative with their marketing in a simple way that also shows them in a way that their audience doesn't normally think of them. Normally you wouldn't think about connecting Burger King and LinkedIn, but this marketing campaign puts them together seamlessly. It was is fun because admitting that you've been fired can be embarrassing and posting about it on social medias can be mortifying , but that just shows you what people will do for free food!
ReplyDeleteThis was a very interesting post because it really showed the creative marketing side of Burger King. Whoever does their marketing campaign really tapped into the social media side and got people involved. I feel like people are always tweeting at different companies to get free stuff. But now, #whopperseverance was trending so it makes the average person curious about what this hashtag means and thus making them think about Burger King. More companies should use the "trending hashtag" idea because it really does make their company go viral and it allows it to reach a larger audience. Great blog!
ReplyDeleteI think this is such a smart campaign idea. They turned something that is overall a negative experience into something that could allow them to not only gain from the experience even if it is just a free Whopper. There is still something good that specific person got out of her being fired. I think it also gave Burger King a lot of free exposure by allowing people to share their own personal stories of being fired, sometimes funny ones, with references to Burger King. I think this is overall a very creative campaign that definitely gave Burger King a lot of exposure.
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen this marketing campaign but I love it. I'm so glad I read your blog because I actually want to go and look up this hashtag now. It is a really smart and interesting use of the hashtag. I think because they chose something funny, it made people more likely to click. I personally don't usually click on hashtags unless they are something interesting or funny. Good job Burger King!
ReplyDeleteThis marketing campaign has me torn. On one hand, the hashtag is a great way to ensure interest in the brand...I mean who doesn't want to read people's stories about getting fired? This type of comedic content is exactly what Burger King's target market is looking for on social media. However, the hashtag associates the Burger King brand with something negative, which is ypically never a negative idea. If I were to get fired from my job I might now think about going to Burger King, but what about when I get hired to my dream job and want to celebrate? The idea of associating being fired to Burger King lessens the quality of their brand name in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteFast food places have a little more different from other business. Especially when it comes to Twitter, the audience is much younger and usually just looking for entertainment. I do enjoy the Wendy's twitter page though.
ReplyDeleteCompared to Wendy's, BK has always been slacking in their social media online presence. At least they're notably less entertaining, but this was a step forward for sure. I think it's a creative and unique tactic to engage their consumers and generate traffic. Great share on this marketing campaign!
ReplyDeleteI think this marketing campaign was so funny and creative, but I don't think i would ever participate. I would be interested to know how many people actually did end up participating. None the less, it got Burger King a lot of media attention though for how funny this was! I really liked how it had good humor and ended up associating Burger King with a positive after thought.
ReplyDelete