Burger King’s App Lets Fans in Brazil ‘Burn’ Competitors’ Ads and Score Free Whoppers

March 20, 2019

There’s a longstanding tradition in advertising of trying to hack, mock or otherwise leverage a competitor’s ads. (A personal favorite is when Newcastle bought an ad next to Stella Artois’ outdoor board just to mock the word “chalice.”)

But Burger King has now truly taken this tactic into the mobile era with its new Brazilian effort called “Burn That Ad.” Created by agency David Sao Paulo, the project lets users of the Burger King app scan ads or digital content from other major burger chains. The app user sees the competitor ad burn away, revealing a coupon for a free Whopper.

The app feature is currently only live in Brazil, though given the brand’s history of globalizing its more successful marketing ideas, there’s always a chance “Burn That Ad” could come to U.S. devices someday. (You might remember the brand’s most recent U.S. push for its app, FCB New York’s Whopper Detour, which let fans unlock Whopper coupons by approaching a McDonald’s location.)

“Burn That Ad” specifically promotes the BK Express service that lets customers pre-order food for pickup.

“Technology as a means to provide the best customer experience is one of our main investment targets in 2019,” Ariel Grunkraut, Burger King’s marketing and sales director for Brazil. “To create the BK Express experience, our exclusive payment technology via mobile phone available all around Brazil, we offer some fun interaction in augmented reality for our brand’s lovers through the app. And those using the service also gets a free Whopper.

The brand says about 500,000 Whoppers are expected to be given away across Brazil through the promotion. The app limits the offer to one per customer.

“Augmented reality is a fascinating tool. And when combined with a little pyrotechnics, is even better,” says Rafael Donato, vp and creative director at David Sao Paulo. “With ‘Burn That Ad,’ we hacked the competition by leveraging our biggest advantage, which is fire.”

CREDITS:
Agency: DAVID SP
Campaign: Burn That Ad
Client: Burger King Brazil
Managing Director DAVID SP: Sylvia Panico
VP Executive Creative Director: Rafael Donato
Creative Director: Edgard Gianesi
Copywriter: Luca Trincanato
Art Director: Marlus Lau
Account: Carolina Vieira, Rafael Giorgino, Roberta Magalhães, Martina Adati
Producer, DAVID: Fabiano Beraldo, Fernanda Peixoto, Silvia Neri, Brunno Cunha, Gustavo Viola
Planning: Daniela Bombonato, Carolina Silva, Bruno Gomiero
Media: Marcia Mendonça, Mateus Madureira, Felipe Braga, Renata Oliveira, Silvia Sakurai, Luana Paolillo
Social media: Lucas Patricio
Innovation & Technology: Toni Ferreira, Gustavo Nanes, Karine Viegas, Ully Correa
Data Intelligence: Mailson Dutra, Guilherme Campos
Client Approval: Fernando Machado, Marcelo Pascoa, Ariel Grunkraut, Thais Nicolau, Bruna Yoshida, Mariana Santos, Stephanie Pellin
Production Company: (APP): VZLab
Team VZLab: Luiz Evandro, Giovani Ferreira, André Sernaglia, Eliza Flores, Marcia Sumie, Daniela Murai, Daniela Murai, Giovani Ferreira, William Queen, Yuri Cruz, Yuri Cruz
Production Company: Café Royal
Director: Irmãos Meirelles e Tuco
Photography: Tuco
Team Café Royal: Manu Carvalho, Moa Ramalho, Camila Carrieri, Eliseo “Gringo” Alvarez
Postproduction: Clan
Editor: Guga Moraes, Daniel Crepaldi
Sound Production: Jamute
Team Jamute: James Pinto, Thiago Lester, Anderson Soares, Kiki Eisenbraun, Sabrina Geraissate
Production Company: Hogarth
Team Hogarth: Alexandre Sakihara, Ricardo Kertesz, Stephanie Valente, Marcelo Baptista e Dereck Denis, Fadel Dabien, Lucas Moreno, Alexandre Sakihara