The Whopper Reply

 

For over 60 years, the rivalry between Burger King and McDonald’s has been the catalyst for creative campaigns. With each fast-food franchise boasting the best hamburgers (Burger King with the Whopper and McDonald’s with the Big Mac), the back and forth banter has made for some hilarious content, the most recent being Burger King Denmark's campaign "The Whopper Reply,” created by the advertising agency, Uncle Grey.

"The Whopper Reply” was created after Burger King reviewed both theirs and Mcdonald's social media presence. Burger King noticed McDonald's had been slacking in customer feedback, giving them the perfect opportunity to “help out” by replying to their customers for them. As reported by AdWeek, “on Sept. 24, Burger King scrolled back through more than 1,000 comments McDonald's fans in Denmark had made stretching back days, weeks, months and, in some cases, years.” One of the funnier responses included a comment from a customer stating, "we only got one bun on our Big Mac" to which Burger King replied, "Big Mac Convertible? How innovative." With each reply, Burger King also included a coupon for a free Whopper. Take a look at the full campaign here

Although this social media activation was a jab at McDonald’s customer service, the responses were lighthearted and funny. This type of marketing approach, which has been commonplace for Burger King in the last couple of years, can be credited to Fernando Machado, the global CMO since 2014. In an interview with AdWeek, Machado says “it’s all about the tone of the brand. Our tone is fun, lighthearted, and self-deprecating. We like having fun, and we can take a joke at the same time. That in my view is a condition for you to be able to poke fun at others. We don’t do things that are mean-spirited or that can come across as bullying. Fast food is a fun occasion. And as a challenger brand, we try to be the fun brand in a fun product category.”

Which brings us to our topic of discussion. How do you view the rivalry between McDonald’s and Burger King? Do you find Burger King’s marketing strategies to be funny? If so, do you think this helps drive brand loyalty? What do you think a good response from McDonald’s would be? Let us know at TXADPR!

Jack Eltife