In 2018, Burger King pulled off the greatest fast-food heist ever. They turned McDonald’s stores into weapons. Hijacked millions of their customers. And drove 1.5M app downloads in just 9 days. Here’s the insane story of how they outplayed McDonald’s on their own turf:
In 2018, Burger King had a problem: McDonald's was dominating them everywhere. More locations. More market share. More revenue. Burger King couldn’t outspend them. So they decided to outsmart them.
They launched a campaign called the Whopper Detour. Here’s how it worked: 1. Open the Burger King app. 2. Get within 600 feet of any McDonald's. 3. Unlock a deal to buy a Whopper for just 1 cent. You had to go near McDonald's but buy Burger King.
This move was genius for 3 reasons: 1. Every McDonald’s became an opportunity for Burger King to steal a customer. 2. You couldn’t get the deal without downloading the Burger King app first. 3. People couldn't stop talking about how Burger King "hacked" McDonald's.
The results were insane: • 1.5 million app downloads in just 9 days • Burger King’s app shot to #1 in the App Store • 37:1 return on ad spend • Massive free media coverage worth millions And all while spending way less than a typical national campaign.
It didn’t stop there. Burger King literally mapped every McDonald’s location across America to trigger the deal. They turned 14,000 McDonald's restaurants into Burger King marketing assets without McDonald's being able to stop them. Absolute Savage!!
The Whopper Detour campaign ended up generating billion in earned media and sales impact for Burger King. It wasn’t about spending more. It was about thinking differently. And it remains one of the boldest marketing plays in fast-food history.
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