Just Get Fired? Prove It on LinkedIn and Burger King Will Give You a Free Whopper

When you think about getting fired from a job, do you also think about flame-grilled burgers? Burger King wants you to make that connection. In an odd bit of marketing, the fast-food chain is offering free Whoppers as a severance package of sorts if you’re willing to post about being fired on LinkedIn.

The connection isn’t perfect—it’s a bit of mental gymnastics to get from being fired from a job to thinking about how Burger King uses fire to grill its burgers—but the brand’s creative shop, David in Miami, has leaned into the idea before and won big at the Cannes Lions festival.

Here’s how it works: If you post “I got fired. I want a free whopper. #WhopperSeverance” on LinkedIn, you’ll receive a link to register for a Whopper severance package in the mail, and that package includes a Burger King gift card.

“We know getting fired sucks, but getting a free Whopper doesn’t,” said Burger King global brand chief Fernando Machado in an email. “So, to showcase the love for the Whopper, we invited people to ‘own their fire’ on LinkedIn. We chose LinkedIn because that’s the website people tend to use as the social platform for careers.”

He added: “The intention behind the idea is to land the fact that Burger King cooks with fire. And we are doing that in a fun, different and light-hearted way. At the same time, we will be offering some free Whopper sandwiches and the opportunity to get some professional advice to a number of participants.”

It’d be odd to get people to talk about losing their jobs without offering something up (aside from a burger), so as part of the Whopper severance package, Burger King “partnered with the career satisfaction experts at The Muse to offer 30-minute one-on-one question and answer sessions to the first 100 participants who post and register,” according to a statement from the brand, which notes that in the past three years, the chain has created 50,000 new jobs globally.  

But could you potentially get a job at Burger King? They are looking at your resume, after all. “We are always keen to bring great talent to our organization,” said Machado. “We have well defined ways for people to search for jobs or apply to positions at Burger King, and that will continue to be open to all who are interested.”

Kristina Monllos

@KristinaMonllos

Kristina Monllos is a senior editor for Adweek.