Cannes Creative Showcase: Burger King proposes mash-up burger for UN Peace Day

Brief

Insights:

1) People are curious for new flavour combinations and willing to trample across brand conventions to experience them.

2) There’s no longer an inside / outside of a company – thanks to social media, corporations are now held accountable for their actions.

Creative idea: Burger King made a highly visible proposal to McDonald’s, inviting them to collaborate on a truly one-of-a-kind product: The McWhopper. The proposed mash-up burger would combine key ingredients from each restaurant’s signature product, The Big Mac and The Whopper, to be prepared and served on one day only, United Nations Peace Day, 21st September 2015.

Execution

BK published an open letter in traditional and social, inviting McD’s to collaborate in creating and serving the McWhopper on Peace Day. The proposal was supported by tactical outdoor and spearheaded by mcwhopper.com, a multimedia toolkit of co-branded assets: staff apparel, signage, and a pop-up restaurant.

Every asset was designed to be visually iconic and translate into multiple languages, for ease of share-ability. The proposal was met by frenzied public support, so McDonald’s drew criticism when they turned down the offer. Inspired by BK’s online Burger Build film, tens of thousands of people took matters into their own hands by creating and sharing do-it-yourself McWhoppers on mainstream and social media – integrating the competitor’s product with our own.

Simultaneously, four other rival restaurants raised their hands for peace and together with BK created the historic ‘Peace Day Burger’, a symbolic mash-up available at an Atlanta pop-up on Peace Day only.

Outcome

· 8.9 billion media impressions

· Earned media value $US138m

Source: ABPR, Personally Inside, Llorente y Cuenca, Ketchurn, Evercom, Weber Shandwick, Emanate and Cison

· #1 trending topic on Facebook, Twitter

· Over 10,000 DIY McWhopper reviews on YouTube

PEACE ONE DAY

· +40% increase in Peace Day awareness (from 30% to 43% of the U.S pop)

Source: Toluna Research (Sept 15)

· +16% increase in Peace Day awareness worldwide

Source: McKinsey and Company (Oct 15)

“The McWhopper campaign is the single highest contributor ever towards Peace Day awareness” – McKinsey and Company – Peace One Day research partner

BURGER KING BRAND METRICS (ALL PEOPLE)

· +75% – Positive brand buzz from 20% to 35% / +60% millennials

· +25% – Purchase consideration from 32% to 40% / +76% millennials

· +48% – Likelihood to recommend brand: from 21% to 31% / +84% millennials

Source: YouGov Brand Index Oct 15

MARKETING magazine is the Official Cannes Lions Festival Representative for Malaysia.