Once this started going viral on YouTube, many people began changing the Wikipedia description of the Whopper to alter the ingredients. One person even wrote that the Whopper was made from "100% medium-sized child". Burger King was prepared for this though and made sure the ingredients on Wikipedia were correct during the commercial's airing for the Tonight Show. However, many people were not happy with this and felt angry towards the unauthorized hacking of their devices. Other people thought it was very creative and funny. Altogether, it created a huge media buzz for BK which was exactly what they wanted.
How do you feel about this device-hacking advertisement?
I thought that this was a really creative commercial, and incorporating devices that people already had in their homes, whether it angered them or not, certainly made it memorable. Yesterday, the Wikipedia editors wrote an open letter to Burger King asking them to apologize for the ad, as it is against Wikipedia's policy to have any advertising material in its entries. Burger King hasn't responded. I think that any ad that causes people to talk about it, not only gets the brand name out there, but causes engagement and recall. And in this case, although it might have been seen as a breach of privacy or Wikipedia policy, there were no serious ethical or political implications, and therefore, I think it was effective.
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