The McWhopper

"crowmolly" (crowmolly) 08/26/2015 at 11:02 • Filed to: None

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BK took out a full page ad in the Chicago Tribune calling for a one-day “cease fire” in the “burger wars”. They proposed joining forces with McDonalds to make a McWhopper with all benefits going towards World Peace day on September 21. The burger would be sold at one location in Atlanta by employees from both companies.

Peace One Day is a non-profit organization campaigning to make Peace Day September 21st an annual day of global unity. They have a powerful rallying call ‘who would you make peace with?’ which inspired us to lead by example and extend an olive branch of our own. We’d like to propose a one-off collaboration between Burger King and McDonald’s to create something special – something that gets the world talking about Peace Day.

Here’s the promo site. Kind of a mess, just FYI:

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

McDs’ response at 8AM EST was as follows:

Dear !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! ,

Inspiration for a good cause... great idea.

We love the intention but think our two brands could do something bigger to make a difference.

We commit to raise awareness worldwide, perhaps you’ll join us in a meaningful global effort?

And every day, let’s acknowledge that between us there is simply a friendly business competition and certainly not the unequaled circumstances of the real pain and suffering of war.

We’ll be in touch.

-Steve, McDonald’s CEO

P.S. A simple phone call will do next time.

https://www.facebook.com/McDonalds/post…

Might just be me but McDonald’s is being kind of shitty about it. Why not do both a global effort and a light-hearted fun collaboration?

LongbowMkII > crowmolly 08/26/2015 at 11:07

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Yeah, BK wins this round.

StoneCold > crowmolly 08/26/2015 at 11:08

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I will totally go and buy one of these, even though I haven’t had Mickey D’s or the BK lounge in close to a year now.

Edit: Awwwwwww, the proposed location is in Atlanta, not Chicago :/

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > crowmolly 08/26/2015 at 11:10

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“I take myself and this brand too seriously to be able to fathom taking part in a fun publicity stunt while I’m having feels and nonspecifically raising awareness of stuff and stuff. Also, I have no sense of humor or understanding of metaphor.” - Steve, paraphrased

crowmolly > StoneCold 08/26/2015 at 11:14

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Well, that and McD said no

Wobbles the Mind > crowmolly 08/26/2015 at 11:15

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I think Steve was in the right on this one. They can definitely do something much, much larger together. We can’t get to a point where some just tosses things on social media in order to force another company to do something. That’s like GM going on social media and saying, “If Ford donates 10 cars to this charity we will match.” Then if they do it, you get credit for the idea, and if they don’t, they look like the bad guys plus you can go, “well even though Ford wouldn’t meet our proposal, we are still going to donate 7 cars to charity.” You can do less or nothing at all and still look good.

StoneCold > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 08/26/2015 at 11:17

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The ellipsis and period combination in the first sentence is the language equivalent to Grumpy Cat.

PS9 > crowmolly 08/26/2015 at 11:20

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How about instead of proposing peace, you wage war on your shitty nuggets and sponge-like lukewarm fries, BK?

For Sweden > crowmolly 08/26/2015 at 11:35

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P.S. A simple phone call will do next time.

#TeamMcD

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Wobbles the Mind 08/26/2015 at 11:36

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While it’s true that something much larger could be undertaken, this reads a lot more like a “don’t call us, we’ll call you”. Maybe they will do something, but rather than engaging in any kind of banter or (best choice) upstaging, it comes off as a set of rolled eyes and a harrumph, which is *terrible* from a marketing standpoint. I get that he’s trying to come across as above marketing, which, bully for him, but having the mindset that anything of that nature is SRS BSNS and cannot have a sense of fun attached is false dichotomilicious. Also, a giant flashing warning sign to investors on his mindset and priorities, but I digress.

Wobbles the Mind > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 08/26/2015 at 11:47

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This is kind of the reaction I was talking about. McDonald’s hasn’t done anything at all, but now, regardless of whether BK does anything or not, you are now against them and upselling BK.

BorkBorkBjork > crowmolly 08/26/2015 at 11:52

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How does one donate money to “World Peace”?

crowmolly > BorkBorkBjork 08/26/2015 at 11:54

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Probably to the organization trying to foster it.

But I get your overall point.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Wobbles the Mind 08/26/2015 at 12:05

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Actually, I think BK’s idea *is* kind of dumb and pointless, make that very, but go for it, guys, more power to ya. However, a bad response is often worse than none, and Steve’s response certainly seems to me to be one of those. Maybe you’re correct that thinking McD screwed up counts as an upsell of BK indirectly by its nature, but I think it’s absolutely appropriate to critique the response, regardless of opinion on what provoked it. It’s the “ P.S. A simple phone call will do next time.” that absolutely hammers in the nail - it’s snippy, passive aggressive, and stuffy, not to mention the earlier snipes about being “meaningful”. It would likely have been possible for Steve to shut this down without coming off as bitchy. That’s... not remotely the case. Intentional bitchiness and “LOOK AT ME AND HOW MUCH I’M TAKING THE HIGH GROUND AND THOUGHTFUL AND STUFF” would send me, if I were a McDonalds investor, running for the exit. It’s a teenager’s idea of what “Being Adult” looks like and is utterly tonedeaf in our modern meme and flash in the pan world of marketing (more’s the pity).

BorkBorkBjork > crowmolly 08/26/2015 at 12:38

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pip bip - choose Corrour > crowmolly 08/27/2015 at 08:49

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Macca’s are shitty coz someone else thought of it probably.

Rico > BorkBorkBjork 08/27/2015 at 17:04

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I’m taking all donations for World Peace please make all checks out to me and I’ll be sure to get it to the right people.