Burger King Offers Students Free Whoppers, If They Make the Grade

It sure beats cafeteria food!

Burger King just launched a weeklong Whopper giveaway for students who make any purchase using the BK app—if they can answer questions on math, biology, chemistry and literature correctly.

Buzzman devised the promotion, which features one new query every day across BK’s social media channels. Just enter the answer on the app to redeem a free Whopper.

The clip below boils—er, broils—it down for you…

… and here’s today’s question:

O-kay. We’ll fire up the ol’ scientific calculator. Looks like the answer is … just give us the damn Whopper! (Is that even a real question? They use exclamations points in math? Whoa, they do!)

“Students are going back to online classes, meaning they will not be eating at high school or university cafeterias for a while. So we decided to reward their knowledge,” says BK global brand marketing chief Marcelo Pascoa, who describes the campaign as “a playful, lighthearted approach to a real-life problem, something we could all use a little bit of right now.”

BK defines “students” pretty loosely. Basically, it’s anyone over 18 or youngsters with an adult’s permission.

You’ll have to exercise your brain to win, but at least you won’t have to relive romantic mishaps to snare that sweet sweet sandwich.

The promo follows last week’s “Stay Home of the Whopper” spot from BK; other coronavirus initiatives include free kids meals and a “Quarantine Whopper” folks can make at home.

In recent days, fast feeders have come under increased scrutiny over COVID-19-related safety issues impacting their employees. Last week, cooks and cashiers at more than 30 restaurants in California—including BK, McDonald’s, Taco Bell, Domino’s and Pizza Hut—staged a walk-out to protest conditions.

Asked about worker safety, BK says:

“We are providing paid sick leave for up to 14 days to team members in corporate-owned restaurants who have been impacted by COVID-19. We have also encouraged our restaurant owners to use this difficult time to invest in their team members for the long term and have been heartened to see so many do so. In addition, we are paying a special bonus in April to all corporate restaurant team members in North America across our three brands [BK, Popeyes, Tim Hortons] to recognize their tremendous service to our guests and communities during this difficult time.”

Fair enough. Now, how about a side of free masks, gloves, soap and $3 an hour hazard pay with that? (Those are the workers’ demands.)

CREDITS

Work: Burger King “Student Offer”

Agency: Buzzman  
President and Executive Creative Director: Georges Mohammed-Chérif
Vice – President: Thomas Granger
Managing Director: Julien Levilain
Head of Strategic Planning: Clement Scherrer
Creative Director: Julien Doucet
Creative Director: Lilian Moine
Art Director and Copywriter: Hadrien Brice
Business Director: Loïc Coelho
Account Executive: Guillaume Lhoste
Head of Social Media: Julien Scaglione
Social Media Consultant: Félix Brunot

Client: Burger King
Global CMO: Fernando Machado
President, BK Americas: Chris Finazzo
Head of Marketing, BK NA: Renato Rossi
Head of Brand & Communications, BK NA: Marcelo Pascoa
Head of Global Marketing: Diego Suarez
Lead, Advertising & Merchandising, BK NA: Rogelio Magaña
Lead, Media & Digital Marketing, BK NA: Jorge Oliveira
Sr. Manager, Global Brand Marketing: Rachel Kellerman
Manager, Advertising, BK NA: Rachel Williams
Manager, Social Media, BK NA: Flavia Guetter
Manager, Mobile App, BK NA: Preston Nix
Sr. Analyst Media, BK NA: Rebecca Richardson