Burger King's UK store tweeted a letter asking fans to order from fast-food rivals such as McDonald's, KFC, and Subway to support the industry.
According to The Guardian, the recent ad from Burger King seems to take out an advert promoting its rivals, including McDonald's. However, it reveals to be a genius promotion of its very own Whopper.
In light of the recent announcement of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson for another four-week lockdown to fight COVID-19 as infection rates are projected to rise rapidly, bars and restaurants will close for general service. It means that food establishments can only offer takeout from Nov. 5 until Dec. 2.
Reports from CNN said that the multinational fast-food chain took to Twitter and made a post urging customers to support their local fast food outlets during the coronavirus pandemic.
The post also mentioned its rivals, namely, KFC, Domino's Pizza, Subway, Five Guys, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, Greggs, Leon, Papa John's Pizza, and their biggest competitor, McDonald's.
We know, we never thought we’d be saying this either. pic.twitter.com/cVRMSLSDq6 — Burger King (@BurgerKingUK) November 2, 2020
Friendly Competition
There's no greater rivalry than Burger King versus McDonald's when it comes to fast foods.
Ever since the 1950s, they have been seen butting heads within the fast-food industry, and 2020 is no exception to show off their little friendly competition. This is also not the first time Burger King incorporated McDonald's in their marketing ad.
Back in 2019, Burger King came up with a video with the title, "A Whopper of a Secret." The creation of this video is to demonstrate that by hiding a Big Mac behind every 2019 Whopper, a Burger King Whopper is heftier than a Big Mac.
In addition, a note towards the end of the video shows a thank you note to McDonald's for "having its back."
Similarly, in 2018, Burger King created another unconventional ad called "The Whopper Detour." Customers were urged to download the Burger King app and go at least 600 feet to a McDonald's for them to receive a notification for a Whopper for just one cent.
It is then revealed by the Chief Marketing Officer of Burger King that they reached one million downloads for the app since the campaign launched.
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Just recently, Burger King branches in Denmark and Sweden decided to resurrect the "canceled clown." As part of Burger King's Halloween campaign, customers were invited to walk into the bathroom of selected Burger King locations and say "canceled clown" three times in front of the mirror.
This is similar to a campaign they did back in 1960, which is an adaptation of the horror film "It" that features an evil clown. The video's end credit then showed a line saying: "The moral is: never trust a clown," followed by the Burger King logo.
It is without a doubt that the UK hospitality industry has been hit hard by the global pandemic. Additionally, the new restrictions that will come into force in England by Thursday will likely make things worse.
However, in a world where businesses are consumed by profitability, a simple tweet in solidarity with your rivals is a refreshing reminder that doing something right is also good for business.
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