What if I told you that two mega fast food chains proposed a marketing campaign to bring awareness to the International Day of Peace? Would you support the idea, would you criticize their business practices, would you consider purchasing their product?
On Wednesday, August 26 2015, Burger King ran full-page ads in The New York Times and The Chicago Tribune proposing a one day fast food ceasefire with McDonalds. In honor of the International Day of Peace held on September 21 of each year, Burger King proposes the creation of a co-branded McWhopper pop-up restaurant in Atlanta that will serve free McWhoppers to patrons who sign tray mat truces.
The McWhopper marketing campaign is promoting not only the two brands but also the Peace One Day organization whose “objective is to institutionalise Peace Day 21 September, making it a day that is self-sustaining, an annual day of global unity, a day of intercultural cooperation on a scale that humanity has never known.”
Of course you’re probably asking yourself what a McWhopper entails, Burger King thought of that too:
The cynic in me feels that this is a distortion of the intent of the International Day of Peace. The marketing campaign is crafting an image of cooperation by advertising the brands and not the companies’ business practices. I doubt you’ll find a pamphlet on deforestation or sustainability when you visit the McWhopper store. My practical side realizes that the Peace One Day organization is trying to create coalitions with mass reach to get the message of peace out to the world and it takes the cooperation of major brands like Burger Kind and McDonalds to do so. I’m torn and intrigued by the marketing campaign, I think the publicity it receives will successfully promote the International Day of Peace as well as the fast food brands involved. What do you think and what will you be doing to promote peace?
** Updated with McDonald’s CEO Steve Easterbrook’s initial response.
Looks like McDonald’s has commented on the marketing proposal with a less-then-enthusiastic response.
Those Trashburger Barons seem to believe they are very influential people, like gurus.
Is this for real? If this is true will they forgo one day, one week, one month of their advertising budgets and dedicate that to peace too? 🙂 A girl can dream, right?! And what about asking all fastfood giants, KFC, Taco Bell, Subway, Wendy’s, and the top 20 fastfood giants to do the same? Woo hoo! jack pot.