In 179 countries, same-sex marriage is still not allowed. Burger King's "Your Way" philosophy means that everyone can be as they want to be. That accounts for daily life as well as how to enjoy our products. We wanted the world to see, that this is way more than a promise, it’s about real people and real lives.

To prove the authenticity of ”Your Way” within a relevant and highly discussed issue without losing sight of being a light-hearted, bold brand, we went the brave way and burned Burger King’s most iconic burger. By turning it into a symbol of love and tolerance, it played an important role in the lovestory between two men. And way more importantly: it played a big and meaningful role to everyone out there who had to fight against suppressions and restrictions. The onlinefilm showed, that going ”Your Way” is always the right one.

As open-minded individuals, most of us may think about suppressions and restrictions, but we don’t really know how it feels. Being not just bullied and ashamed for who you are, but also face legal challenges is the most painful circumstance, a person could experience. In 179 countries, same-sex marriage is not allowed. Fortunately in Germany, it is. With the Whopper Diamonds, representing Burger Kings ”Your Way” philosophy, we wanted to take a stand on civil liberty issues of same-sex marriage.

To demonstrate how serious we take every person’s freedom, we decided to burn our own product and create a flaming symbol of love and tolerance out of it. And furthermore: part of a real lovestory. It was about Alvar and Dima from Estonia. In their home country, they couldn’t officially get married to live a life their lives as husband and husband. A life, they’ve always dreamed of. We crossed the legal boundaries to help them fulfill their greatest wish: an official marriage in Berlin.

One marriage with two Whopper Diamonds to represent millions of suppressed homosexuals all over the world, to give them hope, support and a lot of love from a big brand like Burger King.

Burger King’s burned its most iconic burger and turned them– in an elaborate chemical process – into something very extraordinary: sparkling diamonds. What sounds absurd at first, was created to represent Burger Kings ”Your Way” philospophy with a unique symbol of love and tolerance.

With the Whopper Diamonds - a very special, branded innovation - we wanted to write the lovestory of a same-sex couple from Eastern Europe, who was not allowed to love their way and get married in their home country. We crossed the legal boundaries to help them fulfill their greatest wish: an official marriage in Berlin together with their family and friends. In Germany, same-sex marriage is allowed. The official wedding was crowned by the Whopper Diamonds set into wedding rings. In the end, our emotional online film hit a nerve and people all over the world celebrated with our couple.

To prove that Burger King really stands for the ”Your Way” philosophy, we decided to go a brave way beyond the usual. Burning the own most iconic product is an unexpected move, other brands would never dare to do. As an more authentic and relevant brand, being brave also implied for us to tell a real, non-fictional story that goes way beyond the usal branded enterntainment. Therefore we casted a real same-sex couple from Eastern Europe, who wasn’t allowed to get married. The story of Alvar and Dima, who had to live with restrictions and suppressions in their home countries, really touched us. In the end, the strategy to portray a real love story instead of coloring your logo in rainbows, paid off. The film about the wedding crowned by the Whopper Diamonds really touched a nerve.

With an Europe-wide casting - in close exchange with numerous LGBT communities - we looked for same-sex couples who are not allowed to marry in their home country. We found Alvar and Dima, who have been trying to make their love official for years and have had to deal with many reprisals.

Simultaneously, we turned Whopper – in cooperation with the company Heart in Diamond and a complex chemical process - into real diamonds. For the official marriage in Berlin, we invited the couple and their closest friends to celebrate love with us. The whole journey and the manufacturing process was documented in an online film. The unique lovestory quickly became the most watched video within the LGBT target group. To gain relevance, we promoted it with banners on LGBTQ websites during pride week and showed the film live at Germanys best-known pride parade.

Being brave and burn the own product to take a stand really paid off: the online film about the Whopper Diamonds who fulfilled a heartfelt wish of a same-sex couple proved to be more relevant than ever. It quickly became thoe most watched ad on YouTube within the LGBT target group and people all over the world were touched by the emotional lovestory. Leading to 168 Million impressions in total and 4 million video views on YouTube. Being more authentic and relevant than ever, Burger King made an impact and earned a plus of +43% as most favorite brand. The restaurant traffic during the campaign increased about +60% at the same time. With EUR 3,3 million earned media, we created a brand communication that went beyond its relevant target group and pushed brand awareness with numerous mentions, shares and reposts on social media.