The Whopper Sacrifice a part of the Burger King campaign

Apparently some people are worth less than a burger.

By Ben Kupiszewski

Published Jan. 29, 2009

Burger King tested the worth of Facebook friendships with its most recent advertising campaign, called The Whopper Sacrifice.

The campaign, which has 89,231 Facebook users, pits the worth of Facebook friends and ravenously rumbling stomachs against each other. For deleting 10 Facebook friends, the fast food chain rewards the hungry Facebook user a 37 cent coupon towards the franchise’s famed Whopper.

MU students had mixed reactions with the ad campaign, ranging from amusement to disgust. Students who added the application on Facebook discussed its merit.

Freshman Kristy Kuntz said the campaign is actually “kind of funny.”

Another freshman, Jack Von Abalde, said he’s not that cheap.

“Honesty, I don’t go to Burger King enough for it to validate deleting 10 friends on Facebook,” he said. Even those not so adamantly opposed to Burger King’s deal decided ultimately against going through with it for various reasons.

“I didn’t do it because when you defriend them, the Burger King group tells them you defriended them,” sophomore Maddie Hinkle said. “I’d feel too mean.”

Once removed from a friend list, the person receives a message saying he/she is worth less than a sandwich. Burger King also created a Web site where people removed from friend lists could send Angry-Grams to the people who unfriended them.

Despite Hinkle, Kuntz and Von Abalde’s reservations toward the promotion, the strategy yielded results. According to the advertising campaign’s applications Web site, 233,906 Facebook friendships were canceled during the campaign’s duration.

Although not being an avid Burger King visitor, Hinkle said she doesn’t really eat Burger King, but their advertisements are genius.

Von Abalde had a different opinion.

“Their advertising is definitely out there,” he said. “I mean, the whole Burger King thing and the weird chicken for a while. I guess it kind of fits the whole viral video theme for the most part, but sometimes it’s so weird.”

The purpose of the campaign was to spread awareness about the Whopper. Burger King also was depending on people buying side orders of fries and drinks with their discounted Whopper purchases to help turn a profit.

Facebook canceled their involvement Jan. 16 with the deal, based on the fact that it was an infringement upon their users’ privacy. Shortly after, Burger King terminated the campaign.

Kuntz said the campaign would have been better if it had been for a free Whopper. Hinkle said she would have done it if the application didn’t notify the person who was unfriended.

Von Abalde is unfazed to what Burger King has to offer.

“I try to only keep the people who I’m good friends with,” Von Abalde said. “The stress of having 10 people pissed at you because you deleted them is probably a bigger deal than 37 cents off a crappy burger.”