COVID-19 forced restaurant closures nationwide, and caused delivery orders to skyrocket. But as a brand not as well-known for delivery as we are for dine-in and drive-thru, Burger King needed a way to get their usual guests stuck at home to download the Burger King app and start ordering for delivery on a more frequent basis.

We realized that while people could no longer come to Burger King, getting BK delivered technically made their home a “Home of the Whopper.” So, we launched a promo where guests could win an official “Home of the Whopper” sign installed on their own home, and get free delivery from us for as long as the sign was up. All they had to do for a chance to win was download the BK app and place a delivery order.

The Covid-19 pandemic hit the restaurant industry hard, forcing the closure of on-premise dining and a shift to home ordering (Mintel – QSR, 2020). This was a huge problem for us, because unlike competitors who had their delivery presence established pre-pandemic, only 19% of our guests knew we offered home delivery (BK Internal Brand Tracker, 2019).

Delivery was a message of survival for the restaurant industry at that time – a cluttered space that wasn’t unique to us. We needed a bold approach that would get the word out to our guests that we were still serving, their way and get them to download our app downloads and order delivery.

Homes of the Whopper ran from June 25 to July 24, 2020. We launched the promo and announced it on social media, letting our audience know that they could win an official “Home of the Whopper” sign for their own home by ordering delivery, and get free delivery for as long as the sign was up.

Guests began ordering more and more delivery orders, and from there over 100 guests won and we installed their very own “Home of the Whopper” sign. We installed the signs on people’s homes across the United States, while our social media channels amplified the campaign.

Homes of the Whopper successfully pivoted Burger King towards delivery at a time where we desperately needed it. By installing over 100 “Home of the Whopper” signs nationwide, people in neighborhoods all across the US knew the Home of the Whopper could deliver to their home. Beyond that, our signs became neighborhood spectacles, with people seeking out our signs once they heard they were up, taking pictures of them and sharing them online to make the campaign’s reach even greater. Most importantly, Homes of the Whopper led to a 28% increase in downloads of the Burger King app, and increased delivery orders by 1 million orders (BK Internal Data).