For Science: Tasting the Peace Burger

The guys over at Adweek are living the dream. If I wasn't a vegetarian, this is how I would have spent my lunch hour. 

David and Tanya have accepted Burger King's offer and they've brought the myth to life. It's the first documented union of the Big Mac and the Whopper. Adweek's very own McWhopper (and boy am I inordinately jealous).

The results looked.... precarious. 

My first comment? Well, they didn't follow the recipe.... 

Instead of chastising them for diverting from the plan, I will credit them with taking creative license. However, I think that standing by BK's original burger blueprint would have yielded mightier results. 

In the end, they say don't do it, but I still have faith that starting with fresh ingredients— rather than piecing together disassembled, mashed burger parts— would reveal the genius in Burger King's proposal. 

Needless to say, I choose to keep the dream alive. 

But read about their "foray into forbidden science" and see their recommended burger combos on Adweek.com.

The King Calls for Peace

Collaborations have become increasingly common in design and marketing*, but collaborations can also bring attention and awareness to international causes.

That's why Burger King has stepped forward with a proposal to create the McWhopper— the ultimate peace burger. On September 21st, Burger King and McDonalds would unite to bring awareness to International Peace Day**, to put aside their differences and serve a burger of monumental proportions, and significance.

Essentially it's a Big Mac on top, Whopper on the bottom.*** A burger masterpiece. For one day, the two mega-brands would meet in the middle (the middle being Atlanta), at the McWhopper pop-up shop, to prepare and serve burgers, while hoping to institutionalize peace [day].

But it seems the big burger with big ambitions' dreams just won't come true.

McDonalds issued this lame response to BK's mouthwatering proposal:

It's a shame too, because I would have set aside that whole being a vegetarian for a day in honor of Peace and eaten the shit out of that burger.

The execution of BK's scheme was amazingly thorough. On Wednesday, August 26th, Burger King took out full page ads in both the New York Times and the Chicago Tribune asking McDs to call a truce. Along with this, they released a [brilliant] website, which outlined the How, Where and Why of the proposal, and included sketch-ups for the shop, packaging and uniforms. 

The only question mark that really remained was... what fries do they serve?

The design, the messaging, the concept and the strategy was marketed perfectly...  all in a very public space, to gain awareness whether McDonald's took the bait or not. 

Whether or not the mega-chains will actually join forces on September 21st remains uncertain, but it does seem clear that McDonalds has made a [very public] misstep here and disappointed a lot of burger fans with their lack of enthusiasm about teaming up in honor Peace. However, it does sound like they may be willing to play along if they can Have It Their Way. Lucky for them, I've heard Burger King is pretty good at that. 

And this is why BK reigns king while McDonalds is simply a clown.

*And, while being great for PR, can often by somewhat goofy and ridiculous— as we saw earlier this week in my post Walking in Beer.

**Established by the United Nations in 1981

***Top Bun > All Beef Patty > Cheese > Lettuce > Special Sauce > Middle Bun > Tomato > Onion > Ketchup > Pickles > Flame Grilled Burger > Bottom Bun,