Burger King Pranks McDonald's With 1 Cent Whoppers in App-Fueled Rivalry

Burger King is coming for McDonald's. On Tuesday, the home of the Whopper launched its newly [...]

By Libby Birk

Burger King is coming for McDonald's. On Tuesday, the home of the Whopper launched its newly revamped mobile app while simultaneously converting thousands of McDonald's around the country into Burger Kings.

That's because Burger King's new app deploys something called the Whopper Detour, which allows consumers within 600 feet of a McDonald's to order a Whopper via the BK app for just one cent — and then promptly re-routes the customer from McDonald's to the nearest Burger King.

The Whopper Detour, which works by geofencing McDonald's locations across the country, runs until Wednesday, Dec. 12. Until then, if a BK app holder is near a McDonald's, the app will unlock the Whopper for a penny promotion.

Once the Whopper order is placed, the customer will be "detoured" away from McDonald's, as the app navigates them to the nearest Burger King restaurant, according to a press release.

Not only is the business-savvy prank taking a jab at Burger King's biggest competitor, it's also illustrating the order-ahead functionality that Burger King customers can now enjoy — and not just when they're at a Mickey D's.

It's the latest effort from Burger King to try and get customers to download and use the mobile app; last month, the chain unveiled Dogppers, which obviously are Whoppers for your dog, available only with delivery orders. A few weeks before that, the company used images of real car crashes involving Burger King restaurants as a way to encourage customers to use delivery instead of driving as a means to get their food.

Burger King isn't the only burger chain making moves at McDonald's expense. Wendy's has kept up its beef with McDonald's on Twitter by calling out the chain for flash-freezing its burgers, something Wendy's says it has never and will never do.

In a 30-second ad spot, the Columbus, Ohio-based chain calls the Golden Arches' burgers "dry and... [not] hot enough," citing a Fast Company article critcizing the freezing process the burger patties go through. The Wendy's ad then lists burgers on the McDonald's menu that it says are flash frozen.

McDonald's may be following in Wendy's footsteps, however, as it recently began rolling out fresh beef in its Quarter Pounders. Wendy's still pushes back against that announcement, however, as one may guess.

"McDonald's announcement today is basically saying that in about a year or so, only ONE of their hamburgers will be made with fresh beef and not even in all of their restaurants," Wendy's chief concept and marketing officer Kurt Kane told PEOPLE.

With the Whopper Detour, Burger King is just the latest fast food chain to wage war against McDonald's. Will you order a Whopper for a penny via the BK app? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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