Whopper Detour offered Burger King fans a 1-cent Whopper coupon—but you had to get within 600 feet of a McDonald’s location to unlock it. The campaign was a massive hit, both in terms of PR and in driving downloads of Burger King’s smartphone app.  The app was downloaded more than 1 million times in the days after the campaign’s launch, and it rose to the No. 1 rank on the Apple App Store.

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Whopper Detour increased BK total sales through the mobile app by 3X during the promotion, and sales continued as 2X versus-before the campaign was over. Even though Burger King sold some Whopper sandwiches for 1 cent, the engagement was so high that people ended up buying a lot more. That’s why the business results were so strong.

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Whopper Detour leveraged technology, a big idea, and the tone of voice to drive amazing business and brand results. McDonald’s has around double the number of restaurants in the U.S. than BK. Whopper Detour turned a weaknesses into a strength. By geofencing more than 14,000 McDonald’s locations and allowing people to order a Whopper for a penny from there, BK turned McDonald's' restaurants into Burger King restaurants.”