The archive · Marketing & Growth · Marketing decision · 2024
Burger King hacks FC25's AI commentary to say 'Burger to King' — 3 Eurobest Grands Prix
Happiness Brussels taught FC25 gamers to field players named Burger and King, so the game's AI commentators voiced the brand thousands of times.
Burger King
What it had to solve
EA Sports FC25 is one of the most-played games in the world, but Burger King's biggest rival locked the official in-game sponsorship. FC25's new AI-driven commentary could suddenly voice every player's name — including obscure ones such as Wouter Burger and Joshua King — which opened a loophole.
How it works
EA Sports' FC25 is one of the most-played football games on earth, and for 2024 Burger King's biggest rival had locked the official in-game sponsorship. Burger King, a brand with deep gaming history, needed to stay top of mind with an audience it couldn't reach through a paid deal.
FC25's new AI commentary could voice every one of the 17,000+ real players in its database, including obscure ones. Happiness Brussels found five players named Burger (plus four more whose names sound like it) and nine named King spread across divisions — so when 'Burger' passes to 'King', the AI commentator is forced to say 'Burger... to... King'.
The agency never touched the game. Instead it taught the community through streamers and social posts: build an Ultimate Team with Burgers and Kings, score a 'Burger to King' goal, post the clip on TikTok, and get a coupon from the brand. Fans did the rest.
The result was the first unofficial in-game audio sponsorship: 200,000+ brand mentions in week one, +81% gaming-community engagement, 2M+ people reached by at least one goal clip, and 217% growth in Burger King content consumption. It swept Eurobest 2025 with three Grands Prix — Audio & Radio, Entertainment, Social & Creator — and took a Cannes Lions 2025 Gold in Gaming.
Why it lands
- It used the game's own AI update as the loophole, so the brand appeared inside a product it had zero rights to.
- It turned every gamer into the media channel: posting the goal was the campaign, and a coupon made participation a reward loop.
- It spent nothing on sponsorship yet outperformed sponsors, creating the first unofficial in-game audio sponsorship.
- It earned the audience's attention rather than interrupting it, which is why positive sentiment jumped from 60% to 95%.
What it did
'Burger' and 'King' were voiced over 200,000 times in the first week, making Burger King the number-one brand in a game it didn't sponsor; gaming-community engagement rose 81%, 2M+ people saw at least one goal, content consumption rose 217%, and positive sentiment climbed from 60% to 95%.
What you can take
When you can't buy the media, hack its mechanics: find the loophole in the platform's algorithm and let the audience activate it — the community becomes the channel.
Since then
Burger to King became one of the most awarded ideas of 2025: three Eurobest Grands Prix (Audio & Radio, Entertainment, Social & Creator), a Cannes Lions Gold in Gaming with Silvers in Audio & Radio, Gaming and Direct plus a Bronze in Social & Creator, and multiple Creative Belgium and One Show recognitions. Pros joined in — including the world's #3-ranked FC25 player — and in November 2024 a player named Tsiara King topped FC25's European leaderboard, giving the campaign a spontaneous exclamation point.
Sources
- Burger to King — 2025 One Show winner
- Eurobest announces 2025 winners
- Burger To King — Brave Little Belgium
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