To grab the attention of the ever-fleeting millennial eye, we decided to tailor a hashtag campaign to a platform they had never seen one on: the professional networking site LinkedIn. And to address them directly, we spoke to an audience that normally remains hidden: fired employees. To show just how far people would go for a flame-grilled Whopper, we gave professionals a challenge - for a free flame-grilled Whopper, they'd have to announce they've been fired to all their coworkers and potential employers. Because in the United States, a "severance" payment is always due upon firing. And this time, owning your fire came with the payment of a flame-grilled Whopper. But getting a burger wasn't the only thing on the table for the fired. We gave the first 100 brave participants a career counseling session with a job placement expert from The Muse.

Ads on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Times Square billboards challenged LinkedIn members to post "I got fired. I want a free Whopper. #WhopperSeverance" on their personal professional profiles. Participants could add as much of their firing story as the wanted to the post. The posts then populated in the community newsfeed for all current and potential employers to see. Once posted, The King would comment on each post from his personal LinkedIn profile, giving participants a link to a microsite where we gathered their information. After providing their address, each participant was sent a customized Whopper Severance letter through direct mail, which detailed the Burger King Corporation's commitment to flame-grilling and the proposed offer of Whopper Severance in exchange for the admission of firing and included a gift card for a Whopper. the first 100 brave participants a career counseling session with a job placement expert from The Muse.

The challenge became the first ever hashtag campaign on the platform as 4,582 fired employees took over the LinkedIn newsfeed with #WhopperSeverance. It earned 1.4 billion global impressions, and $10.2 million in US media. Burger King saw a 2% increase in flame-grilling perception. For 4 days, Whopper Severance peeled back a layer of seriousness in the professional community by allowing people to share their firing stories. At first, funny stories about partying too hard or forgetting what day it is gave professionals on LinkedIn a good laugh. But soon, legitimate tales of a hurting, challenging, and questionable job market came to the surface. Recruiters began replying to posts right next to The King in the comments offering people interviews. It started as good fun about flame-grilling. But it ended as a catharsis for a professional community that needed a way to let their hair down and let the hurt out.