We decided to put ourselves in the shoes of every teenager in America getting ready for the high school prom. Next, we knew we had to look for the perfect date. Someone who was smart, attractive, and basically unattainable. You know, the girl next door. In the end, we knew it had to be Wendy’s. Yes, that Wendy’s. One of our top adversaries in the world of hamburgers and an absolutely savage troll on social media. We then found a location just outside Boston where a Burger King and Wendy’s sat side by side. It was the perfect place for one restaurant (teenager) to ask another restaurant (teenager) to the biggest social event of the year with nothing more than a simple street sign.

The marquee outside the selected Burger King in Lynn, MA was updated to read, “@WENDYS PROM?” Within a few days the sign was spotted by passersby and began to garner attention on social. Burger King then decided to post a photo of the sign to its own social media accounts (Twitter, Facebook). Soon thereafter, Wendy’s accepted our promposal on social, and the conversation captured the hearts of the internet. Burger King responded almost immediately on social with an image of its marquee sign yet again, but this time with a message that read, “SHE SAID YES!” with a corsage being held out in the King’s hand.

For this endeavor, we received $3,006,277 in earned advertising value. A very high number for an idea that basically cost us nothing.

Burger King received over 98,000 social media mentions which led to a 338% increase in brand conversations. The desired response rate was a positive answer from Wendy’s. It was received and so, the response rate was 100%! The change in behavior was immediate. Wendy’s was no longer hostile towards Burger King, suddenly turning into a friendly ally for the first time ever in the two brands’ Twitter history.

We sparked a massive social conversation both locally and globally through an analog entry point. Using a Burger King marquee in Lynn, MA, which is next door to our competitor and digital arch nemesis Wendy’s, we included the @Wendys handle to make it abundantly clear where we wanted to play and where people could respond to be a part of the conversation/promposal on social. Once the social thread was started with the image of our marquee, the internet couldn’t stop contributing to this unique and momentous occasion between two major QSR brands.

The strategy was simple: Be brief. Be direct. Be surprising and get lots of timely attention for the Burger King brand. Using that as our north star, we used the marquee sign outside of a Burger King to communicate with the Wendy’s next door and the wildly popular Wendy’s social media account. In this way, we were able to get the attention of the local target audience of teenagers outside Boston, but also on a national stage by attracting the eye of a social media giant. Sticking with the goal of being brief and direct, we used a one-word question as our call to action.

The month of May in the United States is the season for high school proms. A time when teenagers, who can muster up the courage, ask one another to the big dance. As a modern brand, Burger King’s ongoing mandate is to cleverly insert itself into timely and relevant events to better connect with its target audience. It also serves as an engaging and constant reminder of the brand to that same audience. With that in mind, the opportunity presented itself to tie into the prom season while connecting in a completely unexpected way to one of our main rivals.