Right Girl: Burger King’s latest marketing stunt not only resulted in some less-than-flattering descriptions of its Whopper sandwich online but now Wikipedia is calling on the fast food chain to apologize.
On April 12, the chain unveiled a 15-second TV spot designed to trigger Google Home devices into reciting the definition of a Whopper, pulled from the crowd-sourced online encyclopedia.
“You’re watching a 15-second Burger King ad, which is unfortunately not enough time to explain all the fresh ingredients in the Whopper sandwich,” an actor playing a Burger King employee says directly into the camera. Any Google Home devices set to respond to voice commands were then set off when the actor said, “OK Google, what is the Whopper burger?”
At some point, public users changed the burger’s definition and added “cyanide” as an ingredient in one version. Another user later changed the definition to say the Whopper is “the worst hamburger product” sold by the chain. MORE HERE
Watch the ad, HERE
I would be ticked if an advertiser hijacked one of my electronic devices, no matter how benign.
i’ve seen some f-ups and this one is big.
I don’t use any voice activated NSA spying devices,
I don’t like to donate to their library.
I listen to old Dragnet radio shows from the ’50’s. From time to time it triggers the voice mode on my GPS.
When it comes to Burger King, I have no way.
I tried a whopper years ago, and it was so bad (seemed like the patty was made of weird cereal) I’ve never been back.
They got a little too clever and paid the price.
On the other hand – if you have a device in the house that listens in on your conversations and takes action on it? You deserve whatever happens from that.
BK was my first job with a paycheck and we all got so tired of their food we would often eat our break meals at the little Mom & Pop restaurant behind the BK. Meals like chicken fried steak dinner rolls, mashed potatoes and veggies. I’m sure they appreciated the optics of BK uniforms sitting at their tables eating their food so often.
I wouldn’t mind seeing the Yumbo for sale once in a while again. Simple hot ham sandwich on an egg bun.
Maybe Burger King should have stuck with their “Subservient Chicken”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBsEJKRM-oQ
An interesting article on how your TV and cell phone “talk” to one another during commercial breaks. I can imagine this happening in malls, restaurants, etc. as well.
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/11/your-phone-is-literally-listening-to-your-tv/416712/
I hate targeted advertising but it also seems self-defeating. Let’s say they’re right about that one cookie from a search being important to me. They’ve just eliminated all the other things that are important to me when that’s all they concentrate on.
This is also why things you hate show up on sites like this. You read a story about Planned Parenthood because you like the idea it’s being protested or de-funded. Then you’re upset Fur has Planned Parenthood ads on his site.
It’s not him sweetie, it’s you. Clear your cookies.
I guess I did a good job of not tuning in to regular programming or following fads over the years. “Subservient Chicken” is not in my memory bank.
Does look like it was successful, though
The latest in a series of increasingly creepy BK ads.
Customers depicted as Dumb & Dumber morons. Eating wearing paper children’s hats? WTH?
Nothing will deter my quest for a whopper.
No Google Home Device, no problem.
“It takes two hands to handle…” Couldn’t produce that ad today.
@Dadof4: Subservient Chicken was an interactive website. The chicken guy would stand around until you typed in something for him to do, such as “lie down” or “stand on one leg”. He would do what was asked (if it was doable) and then return to his original pose. There was no sound associated with the video.
The funniest part was if you typed in something dirty. He would walk over to the camera, bend down close, and shake one finger from side to side, like “Naughty, naughty”.
Here’s what it looked like:
https://vimeo.com/16742192
“hold the pickle, hold the lettuce, special orders don’t upset us”…but the pickle holding will be fifty bucks extra….
@willysgoatgruff: Only fifty? Last time I got my pickle held, she charged me 75 bucks.
😉
@ Vietvet….she must have put some polka in the holding….
Thanks for the link, VV. It answered my first question when I saw the request thing. I wondered how someone could do that all day like a machine. It had to get incredibly boring. But it wasn’t live, so now it makes a lot more sense. Much more practical.