The Big Picture
- Burger King Germany sparked controversy and attention by offering free burgers to customers who read aloud Star Wars spoilers.
- The campaign accurately predicted several plot points of The Rise of Skywalker, raising questions about leaked information and its impact on the film’s reception.
- Despite potential legal repercussions, Disney chose not to pursue action against Burger King, opting to wait for the promotion to end and hoping the issue would fade away.
There’s no such thing as bad publicity… or at least, that’s how the saying goes. How successfully it withstands examination is another matter, but that hasn’t stopped companies from deploying questionable advertising campaigns for the sake of short-term profits. Forgetting Sarah Marshall‘s disturbing billboards that saw dozens of real Sarah Marshalls receiving an influx of unwanted attention. Perhaps the wildest example comes via the restaurant chain Burger King whose German branch once launched a sales campaign based around spoilers for the then-upcoming Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. It didn’t take long before these leaks flooded the internet, briefly making the fast-food joint Public Enemy No. 1 to both the Star Wars fanbase and the exceedingly powerful Disney Corporation. It was a strategy fraught with risk, but given how much it raised the company’s profile, it was arguably a complete victory.
‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’ Arrived at a Difficult Time for the Franchise
The Rise of Skywalker arrived with high expectations. When the final installment of the renowned Skywalker Saga dropped in December 2019, completing George Lucas’s decades-old plan to transform his original trilogy into a nine-part epic, it came amidst a period of upheaval for the franchise. While the back-to-back triumph of The Force Awakens and Rogue One had revitalized the Star Wars brand following the divisive prequel trilogy, the polarizing response to The Last Jedi – coupled with the financial disaster of Solo a few months later – had ruptured much of this goodwill. History may be slowly vindicating these films in the eyes of moviegoers, but from the perspective of someone experiencing them in the moment (not to mention, the legion of studio executives watching every release like a hawk), they felt like significant missteps this early into Disney’s ownership of the property. The whirlwind of excitement that accompanied The Mandalorian’s debut in November 2019 restored some of this lost positivity, although the fanbase remained generally cautious about what Lucasfilm had in store for Episode IX.
But regardless of what certain corners of the internet tried to affirm, there was never any question of The Rise of Skywalker becoming one of the most hyped films of 2019. After all, it was the concluding entry in one of the most beloved franchises in entertainment – how could it be anything less? The confirmation that J.J. Abrams would reprise his The Force Awakens duties as director and co-writer eased apprehensions from nervous fans over the film’s trajectory, while the announcement that fan favorites Ian McDiarmid and Billy Dee Williams would return as Emperor Palpatine and Lando Calrissian, respectively, only bolstered the growing media frenzy. With audiences having so many unanswered questions going into The Rise of Skywalker (“How is Palpatine alive?” “What is the real identity of Rey’s parents?”), it’s no surprise that a frantic culture of speculation would develop leading to the film’s release. Such things are common in devoted fanbases, but from the viewpoint of an inquisitive outsider, they are also ripe for exploitation.
Burger King Germany Offered Free Whoppers to Customers Who Read Star Wars Spoilers
In the early days of December 2019, just over a week before The Rise of Skywalker hit theaters, visitors to the German branch of Burger King were confronted by one of the most unorthodox marketing campaigns in recent memory. Customers were encouraged to download the Burger King app and read aloud plot details for the upcoming film, whereupon a voice-activated coupon for the restaurant’s signature Whopper burger would be deposited into their account. Coinciding with this, Burger King released a commercial set in a mock restaurant whose interior resembled a visual personification of the r/StarWarsLeak subreddit, ensuring that no patron could walk away unspoiled (even the food wrappings included audio chips that played spoilers when opened). It didn’t take long for the #SpoilerWhopper hashtag to trend worldwide, despite the promotion only being available in one country. Considering how proactive the event was, one wonders if that was their plan all along.
The mastermind behind this campaign was the Director of Marketing at Burger King Germany, Klaus Schmäing. In an email sent to The Hollywood Reporter, Schmäing explained that he “wanted to challenge people’s Whopper love and put it to the ultimate test by asking them to choose between their love for our flagship product and their love for the most epic sci-fi movie ever.” He also noted that the spoilers had been obtained from various online sources, and that he wished “everyone [could] take the campaign in good humour and appreciate the entertainment and comedy value.” That a cynical person could decipher his last quote as having an ulterior motive behind it (“Please don’t sue me Disney”) clarifies why Burger King never explicitly used the phrase “Star Wars” or any of its related (copyrighted) terminology. For example, Rey (Daisy Ridley) was referred to only as “the young sword lady,” while Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo) was dubbed “the hairy roaring creature.” Any casual fan could piece together the film from these snippets, but their vague wording afforded Burger King just enough wiggle room should Disney have decided to pursue the matter further.
Thankfully for them, there’s no indication this happened. While Disney themselves have never publicly commented on Burger King’s actions, statements from a Senior Creative Executive at Lucasfilm, Matt Martin, suggested that the corporation wouldn’t be initiating legal action against the fast-food chain. “They’re probably not ‘allowed’ but by the time they’d get in trouble for it the promotion would be over anyway,” as he divulged in a Twitter thread that also silenced the rumors of Disney being in some way associated with the stunt. It’s surprising that Disney – a famously protective corporation who, just a few months earlier, had moved heaven and earth to retrieve a copy of The Rise of Skywalker’s script that had found its way onto eBay – would stand idly by while this was occurring, but it’s possible they worried any kind of reaction would be interpreted as an admission of the leaks’ validity. Instead, their strategy extended to closing their eyes and hoping the problem would go away. That the promotion vanished into irrelevance once the film dropped one week later confirms this was a sensible approach.
Burger King’s Campaign Accurately Predicted ‘The Rise of Skywalker’
Looking back on the campaign, it’s amazing how many of these spoilers turned out to be correct. For instance, the lingering doubts over Rey’s bloodline was a prominent question going into The Rise of Skywalker, but German fans had already discovered the answer thanks to a not-so-subtle reveal that read “the young sword lady is the grandchild of the old hoodie villain.” Other leaks, such as “the hairy roaring creature is accidentally killed by the young sword lady but actually survives” and “the blonde general is killed for freeing the prisoners” also corresponded with the final release. A broken clock is right twice a day, but the accuracy with which Burger King predicted The Rise of Skywalker leaves pause for thought. However, it’s worth noting that these theories had been circling the internet for months, with some even originating from the same r/StarWarsLeak subreddit that would later faun over these reveals. As hilarious as it is to imagine Burger King installing a mole within Lucasfilm just so they could sell a few extra burgers one week, reality is rarely that exciting.
Unfortunately, this suggestion proved more entertaining than the film itself. The Rise of Skywalker was released to a middling response from audiences and critics alike, quickly becoming the worst-rated live-action Star Wars film on Rotten Tomatoes. It made for a disappointing end to a trilogy that had started life with such promise, and undoubtedly takes part of the blame for Disney and Lucasfilm’s inability to produce another Star Wars film in the years since. Still, when the day finally arrives for movie fans to return to a galaxy far, far away, perhaps we’ll see Burger King repeating their old tricks. For a company that is no stranger to bizarre advertising campaigns – let’s not forget when they tried to persuade customers to delete ten friends on Facebook in exchange for a free burger – their conduct in the run-up to The Rise of Skywalker was truly unique. There’s no such thing as bad publicity… here’s hoping their fervent belief in that statement was worth infuriating one of the most passionate fanbases on the planet.
