During a pandemic the company had also an important social role to fulfill. Lockdown Whopper helped to keep 238.000 people home during times when even Brazilian government was incapable of doing so. In an original way, using geolocation, Burger King's promotion encouraged people who were urging to leave their homes due to fatigue, to maintain isolation. More than business, the idea helped society, since thousands of people were prevented from contamination.

Year of COVID-19 pandemic. A denialist president, with a public policy that didn’t encourage Brazilians to stay at home, in charge of the country. Lack of consent between the authorities, commercial pressure and risky behavior of the population provoked the loss of lives and financial damage. In may/2020 Brazil became the 3rd country in daily confirmed cases (1).

Once again Burger King challenged itself to bring a social vision linked to a business goal and thus positively impact the country, encouraging isolation adherence. The challenge was huge, if even the Government couldn’t keep people at home during the pandemic, could a fast-food chain do so?

(1) Source 05/18/2020 - “With more than 250 thousand people contaminated,

Brazil is the 3rd country in covid-19 cases” - Data Johns Hopkins

Staying home pays off - and Burger King proves that. We gamified the process of staying at home, transforming the isolation time into BK benefits. To know if people were in isolation or not we used a tool that was always with them: their smartphones. BK’s app monitored people that registered and, according to the uninterrupted time they stayed at home, they automatically won BK product vouchers, better products each time.

The PR strategy wanted not only to leverage the campaign’s visibility but also raise awareness for the necessity of staying home. It was more than a campaign: it was a brand statement in favor of social distancing. As the promotion already had a fun tone, the PR message was more focused on social responsibility and really showcase how a brand could play an important part to help people remain on their houses. Burger King pioneered a movement: the first brand to ever encourage people to stay home and the only brand that rewarded them.

PR strategy consistent in two complementary fronts: press and influencers. To better leverage the idea, specific press segments had specific messaging: general media message focused on the irreverent way in which BK supported social distancing; marketing media message focused on how the brand took a stand in favor of social distancing while reaffirming their own tone of voice; technology and business showcased the use of data and GPS information to give consumers a true advantage on staying home. Influencers were sent a press kit with a well-humored gift to explain the Lockdown Whopper promotion: pajamas – the official look to stay home. Also, the press was activated not only on the launch of the campaign to disclose the promotion but also on the conclusion of the activation, giving the press the number of participants and, consequently, how many people BK as a brand encouraged and rewarded for staying home.

In 27 days of campaign its social impact was proved: 238.000 * participants stayed home avoiding that other thousands of people were infected. +19% above the expected goal. The isolation time lasted 3 to 15 days, with the majority of people staying 3 to 7 days isolated at home. With an average of 8 days* of isolation per registered user in the campaign, 306.697* rewards were distributed to the participants that were motivated to stay home.

In the business point of view, app downloads increased 840% (vs the goal of 50%) in period media was aired - 4x higher than the expected. Burger King’s app was the 2nd most downloaded of the category during the campaign, losing only to iFood (food delivery app), which means a lot during the pandemic scenario. 31.4MM people were impacted by the campaign.

* Source: Burger King

** Source: Loures / BK Press Office

*** Source: Facebook