Dive Brief:
- Burger King France rewarded one super fan with quite a surprise for the holidays: a gift-wrapped restaurant with his name on the marquee, according to Adweek. Sullyvan K. had posted 637 comments on BK France's official Facebook page — more than anyone else — which inspired the brand and its agency Buzzman to deliver a unique gift this Christmas.
- Thirty-five workers wrapped the entire restaurant over the course of one night to preserve the surprise. Along with a sign over the door reading "Home of Sullyvan K.," Sullyvan received his own specially-marked parking spot, golden tray, dining table and Whopper packaging. He also snagged a year of free meals at the location.
- BK France added a viral element to the giveaway, letting other fans know that whoever writes the most comments on a Facebook video about the promotion will also win free Burger King food for a year. BK said the video received more than 40,000 comments within the first few hours live, per Adweek.
Dive Insight:
Plenty of fast-food brands put effort into recognizing their most ardent fans, but Burger King France literally gift-wrapping a restaurant location and packaging it with custom goodies shows how marketers might elevate the concept around big events like the holidays.
While the super fan in question likely feels especially lucky, the stunt also demonstrates to other followers that Burger King pays attention to who engages with it on social media, and suggests they might be rewarded for their contribution to the conversation. The extension of the promotion, where those who write the most comments on the video enter for the chance to win free meals, will probably invite a lot of spam, however.
A number of Burger King's stunts stateside grabbed headlines this year, but its campaigns abroad also show the company toying with some innovative and occasionally controversial ideas. A June campaign around the opening of the brand's first restaurant location in Belgium, also made with Buzzman, earned the ire of the country's royal family for including King Philippe without permission. Its Russian arm also tested a cryptocurrency-based rewards program based on a bitcoin derivative called, what else, "WhopperCoin."
