Adweek (5/22)
The brand pokes fun at people making emergency calls with absurd complaints
Absurd 911 calls are regular fodder for online jokes or clickbait articles. A Google search brings up real, ridiculous situations that prompted emergency calls, such as, “a man called saying someone had vandalized his snowman” or “a stolen TV remote.”
Burger King pokes fun at this phenomenon by imagining if people phoned 911 to complain about their fast-food order. The global campaign, created by David Buenos Aires, draws inspiration from humorous scenarios to promote the brand’s guest feedback program.
The first faux call comes from a woman at a Burger King drive thru. She is outraged after asking “four different times” for a Western Barbecue Burger and instead receiving a hamburger with lettuce, tomato, cheese and onions.
When the 911 dispatcher calmly explains that the burger mix-up isn’t a criminal issue, the woman says indignantly, “You’re supposed to be here to protect me.”
Burger King | Harmful Cheeseburger
The second 911 complaint comes from a man who orders lemonade at a Burger King, only to find out the restaurant is out of it.
“If I’m hungry, why is it she says she is not going to give me the food?” he says to the 911 dispatcher.
Burger King | Late Lemonade
Instead of calling 911 at every slight food issue, Burger King is instead inviting restaurant guests to give their feedback directly to the brand—by filling out an online customer experience survey. For every survey completed, customers will receive a free Whopper with their next purchase.
The campaign has launched in Ireland before rolling out to other markets.
“We love getting feedback from our guests and finding ways to improve our food and the overall experience,” Iwo Zakowski, global head of brand marketing at Burger King, said in a statement. “Though giving feedback in the right channel is crucial, regardless of whether it’s negative or positive —so, we’re encouraging our guests to speak their mind in a forum where we can best learn and truly make an impact.”
“These incredible real-life situations help us capture the attention of our audience to talk about something that Burger King is very interested in: their guest experience,” added Nacho Flotta and Nicolas Vara, executive creative directors at David Buenos Aires