Burger King's App Lets Fans in Brazil 'Burn' Competitors' Ads and Score Free Whoppers

There's a longstanding tradition in advertising of trying to hack, mock or otherwise leverage a competitor's ads. (A personal favorite is when Newcastle bought an ad next to Stella Artois' outdoor board just to mock the word "chalice.") But Burger King has now truly taken this tactic into the mobile era with its new Brazilian effort called "Burn That Ad." Created by agency David Sao Paulo, the project lets users of the Burger King app scan ads or digital content from other major burger chains. The app user sees the competitor ad burn away, revealing a coupon for a free Whopper. [kickout id="1"] The app feature is currently only live in Brazil, though given the brand's history of globalizing its more successful marketing ideas, there's always a chance "Burn That Ad" could come to U.S. devices someday. (You might remember the brand's most recent U.S. push for its app, FCB New York's Whopper Detour, which let fans unlock Whopper coupons by approaching a McDonald's location.) "Burn That Ad" specifically promotes the BK Express service that lets customers pre-order food for pickup. "Technology as a means to provide the best customer experience is one of our main investment targets in 2019," Ariel Grunkraut, Burger King's marketing and sales director for Brazil. "To create the BK Express experience, our exclusive payment technology via mobile phone available all around Brazil, we offer some fun interaction in augmented reality for our brand's lovers through the app. And those using the service also gets a free Whopper. The brand says about 500,000 Whoppers are expected to be given away across Brazil through the promotion. The app limits the offer to one per customer. “Augmented reality is a fascinating tool. And when combined with a little pyrotechnics, is even better," says Rafael Donato, vp and creative director at David Sao Paulo. "With 'Burn That Ad,' we hacked the competition by leveraging our biggest advantage, which is fire." CREDITS: Agency: DAVID SP Campaign: Burn That Ad Client: Burger King Brazil Managing Director DAVID SP: Sylvia Panico VP Executive Creative Director: Rafael Donato Creative Director: Edgard Gianesi Copywriter: Luca Trincanato Art Director: Marlus Lau Account: Carolina Vieira, Rafael Giorgino, Roberta Magalhães, Martina Adati Producer, DAVID: Fabiano Beraldo, Fernanda Peixoto, Silvia Neri, Brunno Cunha, Gustavo Viola Planning: Daniela Bombonato, Carolina Silva, Bruno Gomiero Media: Marcia Mendonça, Mateus Madureira, Felipe Braga, Renata Oliveira, Silvia Sakurai, Luana Paolillo Social media: Lucas Patricio Innovation & Technology: Toni Ferreira, Gustavo Nanes, Karine Viegas, Ully Correa Data Intelligence: Mailson Dutra, Guilherme Campos Client Approval: Fernando Machado, Marcelo Pascoa, Ariel Grunkraut, Thais Nicolau, Bruna Yoshida, Mariana Santos, Stephanie Pellin Production Company: (APP): VZLab Team VZLab: Luiz Evandro, Giovani Ferreira, André Sernaglia, Eliza Flores, Marcia Sumie, Daniela Murai, Daniela Murai, Giovani Ferreira, William Queen, Yuri Cruz, Yuri Cruz Production Company: Café Royal Director: Irmãos Meirelles e Tuco Photography: Tuco Team Café Royal: Manu Carvalho, Moa Ramalho, Camila Carrieri, Eliseo “Gringo” Alvarez Postproduction: Clan Editor: Guga Moraes, Daniel Crepaldi Sound Production: Jamute Team Jamute: James Pinto, Thiago Lester, Anderson Soares, Kiki Eisenbraun, Sabrina Geraissate Production Company: Hogarth Team Hogarth: Alexandre Sakihara, Ricardo Kertesz, Stephanie Valente, Marcelo Baptista e Dereck Denis, Fadel Dabien, Lucas Moreno, Alexandre Sakihara