As a brand that serves people of all ages, backgrounds, and walks of life, Burger King has a unique opportunity to start an open conversation that destigmatizes mental health. Social media and social pressure have programmed society to put on a smile and act as if everything is OK, even when it’s not. This heartbeat of this campaign is one that encourages people to “feel their way,” igniting conversation around mental health and all of its different facets.

Now more than ever, there’s an underlying pressure to always feel happy. The pervasive nature of social media and influencer culture continues to propel the myth that we are all perpetually blissful. But no one is happy all the time. And that’s OK. To recognize Mental Health Awareness Month, Burger King saw the opportunity to punctuate the importance of feeling however you want to feel by introducing a line of Whopper combo meals called Real Meals, the product launch part of the #FeelYourWay campaign.

While the McDonald’s Happy Meal wasn’t entirely the enemy, the idea that we feel compelled to appear happy all the time was. This ultimately led to a campaign that would indeed vilify the Happy Meal with a product from Burger King called Real Meals—meals designed for however you want to feel. Burger King has never been shy about entering the social conversation and getting people to talk about things that matter. Targeting Millennials and not young kids, five meals were available: Blue Meal, Pissed Meal, Salty Meal, YAAAS Meal, and DGAF Meal. #FEELYOURWAY crowns were also available and a short film launched the initiative on social channels, reimagining the 1970s Burger King “Have It Your Way” jingle to be truer to the idea that people can have a range of feelings. Additional social extensions launched the campaign, reminding consumers of the importance of feeling however you want to feel.

The strategy was simple: get the Burger King brand an unfair share of attention, but with a sense of purpose. Much of this is in the brand’s DNA, as Burger King is consistently entering the social conversation in many ways, shapes, and sizes. In this instance, the strategy was born out of the old tagline “Have It Your Way,” which was evolved to “Feel Your Way.” It was then that we continued to push the narrative even further, acknowledging that because Burger King as a brand welcomes and accepts all, they naturally encourage people to feel however the hell they want to feel.

For the limited release, five different moods were available in select markets, each with their own distinctive packaging. Playful simplicity was key, with each box available in a color reflecting the mood, accompanied by iconic variations of a smile, with the name of the mood appearing below. The boxes featured the line from the campaign, “No one is happy all the time. And that’s OK. Feeling your way is just as important as ordering your way.” The partnership logo for Mental Health America appeared on the top portion of the box, highlighting the partnership between Burger King and Mental Health America. In addition to the boxes, #FEELYOURWAY crowns were also developed, mimicking the color scheme of the boxes, but in crown form.

And a short film—a remake of the classic “Have It Your Way” Burger King jingle— helped launched the idea of “feel your way.”

Burger King is a brand that prides itself on its ability to start conversations around things that matter. This was seen in the social, PR, and partnership amplification this campaign generated:

PR results*

- 2,447 press hits

- 2,888,824,067 global media impressions

- $33,119,248.87 earned media value

Social results

- 100K+ campaign mentions

- Real Meals mentions were 7,284% higher than the median BK campaign

Partnership amplification

- In the first four days of the campaign, Mental Health America saw the highest ever pageviews (82% above the previous benchmark) of Screening to Support, their online mental health screening tool

- 309% increase in social conversation about mental health compared to the 2019 daily average

- 402% increase in twitter engagement with Mental Health America

The purpose of this campaign was to create awareness about how embracing your full range of human emotions is beneficial for mental health. The campaign created over 2.9 billion media impressions in a matter of days. And during the campaign, conversation on social around mental health was 309% higher than average (using 2019 mental health conversation as benchmark, looking at three-day campaign period).