Burger King may not have gotten McDonald’s to agree to a ceasefire, but the fast food giant isn’t giving up on its dreams of peace. On September 21, the restaurant will give away 1500 “Peace Burgers,” which are sandwich hybrids of the Whopper and four other signature burgers from competing chains, including Denny’s, Wayback Burgers, Krystal, and Giraffa.
If you have no idea why exactly this is happening—what kind of world are we living in when fast food chains can set aside their differences for one day???—USA Today has a nice breakdown of what Burger King’s been cooking up since last month:
The Peace Day campaign was launched last month when BK took out full-page ads in the Chicago Tribune and New York Times calling on McDonald’s to join them in a one-day cease-fire in their “burger wars” by collaborating to make a McWhopper (a hybrid of McDonald’s Big Mac and Burger King’s Whopper). Burger King suggested that the mashup burger could be sold to raise money to benefit Peace One Day, a non-profit organization campaigning to raise awareness of Peace Day, a United Nations recognized day that will be celebrated on Monday.
Bad news? McDonald’s said “hell naw,” although very politely. Good news? You’re still getting a mutant burger. That is, you’re getting the burger if you’re in Atlanta and are willing to get to Burger King’s popup as early as possible to snag yourself a sandwich. To be honest, 1,500 sandwiches doesn’t really sound like that many. Maybe Burger King could kick it up a notch? Instead of a little over a thousand, why not make it ten thousand burgers? People would show up! Hell, some people might even fly in from other states for the promotion.
McDonald’s, which is not known for publicity stunts, has invited Burger King’s people to call their people next time they want to pull something like this instead of taking out ads in the paper. The company has also stated that maybe comparing the rivalry between two fast food brands and real human suffering may be just a tad ridiculous. Unfortunately, the house of Ronald has declined any further comments.
In addition to hawking free sandwiches, Burger King will also be making a donation to Peace One Day.
(Via USA Today)
