The archive · Marketing & Growth · Marketing decision · 2018
Burger King's Whopper Detour sells 1-cent Whoppers to app users standing inside McDonald's
The BK app geofences McDonald's: stand within 600 feet and a push unlocks a 1-cent Whopper, rerouting customers to the nearest Burger King.
Burger King · FCB New York
What it had to solve
Burger King was relaunching its mobile app with order-ahead, but getting people to download a fast-food app is hard — Global CMO Fernando Machado noted that even giving products away had failed to drive adoption. McDonald's also outnumbered Burger King two-to-one in the US.
How it works
In December 2018 Burger King relaunched its mobile app with order-ahead, and agency FCB New York turned the launch into a stunt aimed at the competitor's doorstep. Because McDonald's outnumbered Burger King two-to-one in the US, the app was programmed to geofence McDonald's restaurants: anyone within 600 feet got a push notification unlocking a Whopper for one cent, redeemable at the nearest Burger King.
The catch made the campaign. The offer only existed on McDonald's turf, and the coupon had to be used within an hour, so people walked out of one burger chain and straight into the other. 'Billions swerved' billboards, a film shot at McDonald's drive-thrus and a viral tweet spread the joke during the nine-day window.
The results turned the app relaunch into Burger King's most successful promotion: 1.5 million downloads in nine days, the app at #1 in the Apple and Google Play stores, mobile order value up 300%, coupon redemption 40 times better than historic digital coupons, and an estimated $40 million in earned media from 3.5 billion impressions.
Why it lands
- The deal was inseparable from the joke — standing inside a McDonald's to unlock a Whopper made the transaction itself the content people shared.
- Geofencing targeted the one place Burger King physically couldn't compete, turning its biggest weakness into the campaign's premise.
- A one-hour redemption window converted curiosity into immediate foot traffic rather than a saved coupon.
- The app was the point: the stunt forced a download and an account, building owned data for future CRM.
What it did
1.5 million app downloads in nine days and #1 in both app stores; mobile order value up 300% and coupon redemption 40x better than historic campaigns, 3.5B impressions and $40M in earned media — then two Grand Prix, a Titanium and nine more Lions at Cannes 2019.
What you can take
Give the offer a story: the promotion itself was the entertainment, and the friction — standing at a rival's door to unlock a deal — became the campaign people wanted to share.
Since then
The campaign won the Mobile and Direct Grand Prix plus the Titanium Lion at Cannes 2019, and Burger King kept the app as a data channel — Machado said the brand now had location and credit card data for most app users, with participants spending an estimated $15 million more per year on the app and post-campaign ROI at 37:1.
Sources
- Burger King Sends Fans to Enemy Territory to Order 1-Cent Whoppers
- How Burger King swerved its way to 6MM loyal app users
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