OK, we’re really not sure what to make of this new Burger King commercial anti-bullying PSA.
The ad opens with a group of middle schoolers taunting another kid–destroying his hamburger and hurling insults at him while nearby diners watch and do nothing.
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In the second scenario, a Burger King employee “bullies” a Whopper Jr. then wraps up and gives out to various customers who all return to the counter to complain about the ruined hamburger.
How about we take this to the next level?
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So what exactly is the point of this bizarre social experiment?
Well, according to Burger King, 95% of people reported the “bullied” Whopper Jr., but only 12% spoke up for the bullied kid.
In other words: Burger King customers are much more inclined to stand up for a $3 ground beef patty than they are for an abused child. Way to go, guys!
But wait… wouldn’t a more accurate analogy (and we hesitate to even go here as the entire premise is fundamentally flawed) be to see if people care when someone else’s buger is “bullied”?
None of this makes any sense.
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Burger King says in a statement:
Scrawny. Short. Ugly. Fat. Weird. 30% of school kids worldwide are bullied each year and bullying is the #1 act of violence against young people in America today (Source: nobully.org). The BURGER KING® brand is known for putting the crown on everyone’s head and allowing people to have it their way. Bullying is the exact opposite of that. So the BURGER KING® brand is speaking up against bullying during National Bullying Prevention Month.
Watch the bizarre video below and let us know your thoughts about it in the comments section…
Roan
Nothing bizarre at all. This has a great message.
Lvng1Tor
I agree. This makes perfect sense. It’s infuriating but it works.
ybgirp
Absolutely brilliant, from start to finish. It’d make me support Burger King, if there was one handy.
Very well done by everyone, right to the interviews at the end.
David Myers
Agreed. The ad is aimed at everyone . . . not just the Burger King employees. It’s message is that everyone should speak up if they see bullying. It does it well.
phallictomato
It’s a bizarre ad – Sure the whopper got more attention because people wanted to eat their whopper, rather than confront typical school bullying behaviour, and the ad is nice in theory, but realistically, how many burger king staff would stop kids from being bullied if they saw it actually go on in their restaurant? I would say just as many would ignore it. No one ever stood up for me at school when people were throwing rocks at me and calling me names – especially behind my back (literally, I could hear them). While the ad is nice in theory, it’s unrealistic. I’d like to see a team go undercover to see if burger king staff would confront real-life bullying behaviour.
Jack Meoff
Totally agree. Not even the teachers at school would get involved when kids were being bullied and student care is part of their job, How do they think Burger King staff or the general public are going to get involved. Nice in theory and let’s hope the ad has an impact for change but I don’t see it happening.
gab1991
You cannot change the past and it might feel unfair that the next generation will have it easier, but a lot has changed. The ad is great, is not unrealistic, it is never trying to hide the fact that it was a production, is not saying that the burger king staff would help, it is simply saying that the burguer king company cares and is making this ad to raise awareness in hopes of reducing the problem, I think it is common sense, you oversaw this to tell your story I wish you did not have to go through that. I wish there were more campaigns for people who have already been damaged, most campaigns are aimed for the next generations while the ones that were already broken are supposed to stand up for them.
nowliveit
This is a good ad. Sure it stretches the allegory some… and it does make the point. A lot more people will get it vs an ad that goes into the detail and just talks at them. Most people would turn away from it since more detail and depth may make them uncomfortable. Isn’t this like the show ‘What would you do’?
David Myers
Yes it is . . . like “What Would You Do?” And that is a good thing. Contrary to the other posts above, this is not a theory or wishful thinking . . . this is part of a real campaign by activist human beings to make bullying unacceptable, by example, by thought provoking situations like this, and by law suits against school boards that don’t protect their students from bullying.
Ummmm Yeah
They were just ripping off What Would You Do with John’s Cojones because it’s a popular show. If people want to stop bad behavior don’t eat at a fast food joint that pays their workers minimum wage, only gives them part time work with no health care (meaning people with untreated diseases are touching your food) and tax dodges by moving to Canada.
trigman40
Resonates with me. The fact they did this ad sends a powerful message in my book.