A Novel Approach to Explaining ‘Net Neutrality’

Have you seen Burger King’s ‘Whopper Neutrality’ ad? It’s hilarious — and ingenious.

In a PSA (public service ad) released last week, the company uses something near and dear to its customers’ hearts — the Whopper — to explain net neutrality.

Adweek wrote about the stunt in a recent post:

On the heels of its brilliant anti-bullying spot last year, Burger King has found another cause it can get behind, and promote with a clever in-store stunt — net neutrality.

Net neutrality is a complicated topic to explain, which is where Burger King came in with a meaty metaphor. It set up a social experiment at a BK location — with a hidden-camera setup not unlike that of the anti-bullying spot — and taught Whopper buyers a memorable lesson… See how real customers reacted to being charged more for the same quick-serve Whopper — or, for the regular price, having to wait longer for a Whopper as BK employees intentionally, and seemingly pointlessly, slow down their service…

There’s plenty of cursing in between the baffled looks; a few patrons even make a move to snatch their Whopper away from the BK employees… The pricing board that they showed customers is great, too — with MBPS, referring to megabits per second in webspeak, changed to mean “making burgers per second.”

While not quite as inspired as “Bullying Jr.,” the “Whopper Neutrality” stunt is amusing to watch and certainly puts the issue in the plainest, most relatable terms. And once again, it’s right on brand for the “Have it your way” marketer.

“We believe the internet should be like Burger King restaurants, a place that doesn’t prioritize and welcomes everyone,” says Fernando Machado, Burger King’s global chief marketing officer. “That is why we created this experiment, to call attention to the potential effects of net neutrality.”

Related:

Sonos Closes NYC Store for a Day In Protest of FCC Net Neutrality Ruling

Nothing But Net?

Survey: Consumers Who Understand Net Neutrality More Likely to Support It

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