Burn That Ad
Read the story- Brand
- Burger King
- Year
- 2019
- Objective
- Sales
- Industry
- Food & Drink
- Mechanic
- Other
- Platform
- AR & VR
- Agency
- DAVID São Paulo
Objective
Burger King Brazil needed to drive adoption of BK Express, the app's order-ahead-and-skip-the-line feature, which the brand called its biggest tech investment of 2019. With McDonald's outspending it roughly four-to-one on media in Brazil, Burger King needed a way to win attention without matching that budget — so it built a mechanic that turned rival ads into its own acquisition channel, using its signature flame-grilling as the hook.
Solution
Inside the Burger King app, a "Burn That Ad" banner opens the phone's camera. Point it at any competitor's ad — a billboard, a magazine spread, a coupon, a tray liner, a social post, even a picture on a computer screen in Google Images — and the app recognizes it, sets it alight on screen, and burns it away to reveal a Burger King ad underneath. Each ad torched earns the player a coupon for a free Whopper, which drops straight into their BK Express cart — so the session doesn't end with a thank-you screen, it ends with a real order ready for pickup. Each user could redeem the offer once.
Results
Over 400,000 competitor ads were burned during the three-month campaign. In-app sales rose 55%, and BK Express became Brazil's most-downloaded Food & Drink app for March, April and May 2019, ahead of Uber Eats, iFood, Rappi and McDonald's own app. The campaign reached about 1 billion media impressions and gave away roughly 1.5 million free Whoppers, three times the original plan of 500,000. Physical restaurant traffic rose 7%, and against an $8,000 investment, Burger King says it hijacked $75 million of McDonald's media spend.
- 1
The player opens the Burger King Brasil app and taps the "Burn That Ad" banner, which launches the phone's camera inside the app.
- 2
The player searches the real world for a target: any competitor ad, from a billboard, magazine spread, coupon, tray liner, or in-store sign to a competitor's post on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter, a Google Images result, or a banner seen on another screen.
- 3
The player points and holds the camera on the ad; the app recognizes it against a pre-built database of the competitor's marketing across formats.
- 4
The player taps the "Burn That Ad" button to ignite the ad on screen: fire spreads outward from the touch point and consumes the image in augmented reality until the competitor's ad is replaced by a Burger King ad in its place.
- 5
A reward screen tells the player they've won a free Whopper.
- 6
The player picks a restaurant in the app, the free Whopper is added automatically to their BK Express order (where they can add more items and pay by phone), and they scan a QR code in-store to collect it without waiting in line.
- 7
Each player can redeem only one voucher, and the promotion runs for a limited time or while supplies last.
