The Blank Whopper campaign prompted a massive direct response from voters, in one of the most important decisions a citizen can make: presidential elections.

In a country where corruption amongst politicians is rife and voting is mandatory, it’s hard to choose a president - made evident by voters intentions to vote blank.

Google searches for the term “blank vote” grew 133%, during the campaign flight.

In the end, blank vote went from 29% of voting intentions to 2,.65% of the votes, the lowest rate in the last 20 years of democratic elections.

A Blank Whopper helped voters to vote consciously.

In Brazil, voting is mandatory, but people can still choose to vote in protest by pressing the blank ballot.

In the last presidential elections, voter apathy reached an all-time high, with 29% of voters intending to vote blank, according to the pre-election polls - a number that would surpass all candidate votes.

But when people vote blank, they give up their right to have it their way, and when they do this, it means they let others choose on their behalf.

Burger King wanted to change this, so the brand let people try the taste of voting blank, using BK’s most famous burger: the Whopper. And by doing so, we encouraged people to have it their way, by showing them that when they vote blank, they can't complain about the results.

We wanted to show that casting a blank ballot is not as great as it sounds. Each and every one of us deserve our country our way– and an informed voting decision is the first step in that direction. So we created a special burger to draw attention to what can happen if you let someone else decide for you, and have no say in what you want as a voter: the Blank Whopper – a new and different kind of Whopper.

Basically, blank voters who took part in this activation, received 2 buns with mayo and onion, with this message on its wrap: this is a Blank Whopper, made with ingredients chosen by someone else. When you let someone choose for you, you can’t complain about the results.

The stunt was recorded and became a 1-minute video which we launched during the biggest television debate of Brazil’s presidential run.

In times of fake news, someone needed to tell the truth about the impact of voting blank. So, we made voters try the taste of voting blank, to understand that when they give up their right to have it their way, others choose for them, and they can’t complain about the results.

With voter apathy at an all-time high - 29% of voters intended to vote blank - and with presidential elections being the most talked-about topic on social media platforms, our strategy was to create the perfect content for voters to share amongst their friends and family, becoming unofficially the official message for the elections: don’t vote blank. Vote for a candidate that represents you and have it your way, just like you do at Burger King.

Twelve days before the elections, we went to one the most iconic avenues in Brazil, where grassroots political protests are regularly held.

We placed a replica of the machine where people vote in front of a BK restaurant, but with no number and only two buttons: blank vote and confirm.

Then, we asked people for whom they would vote for in the presidential election, and those who declared the intention to vote blank got a surprise after voting blank in our replica. They received a Whopper, but when they bit the burger, it wasn’t what they were expecting: two buns filled only with onions and mayo.

After feeling this unexpected taste, they found out the message printed on the Blank Whopper’s wrap, which said: this is a Blank Whopper, made with ingredients chosen by someone else. When you let someone choose for you, you can’t complain about the results.

- Global Trending Topic on Twitter (in the first 20 minutes of the campaign).

- Youtube Trending Video

- Google searches for the term “blank vote” grew 133%, during the campaign.

- Uncountable shares on WhatsApp

- The most shared video on Burger King’s history in Latin America.

- Reached our category Top of Mind historical best on the quarter of the campaign (IPSOS Brand Tracking Q4’2018)

- A local market campaign that got 2.8 Billion media impressions.

- Elected Ad of the Year by O Estado de S.Paulo, the second largest Brazilian newspaper.

- Most talked-about campaign in 2018, in the fast food market.

- 30% of people who saw the campaign reconsidered voting blank.

- Blank vote went from 29% of voting intentions to 2.65% of the votes, the lowest rate in the last 20 years of democratic elections.

- A Blank Whopper helped voters to vote consciously.

Brazilians know they can vote blank; however, what the majority of the voters don’t know are the real consequences of voting blank. Until this campaign, no one had ever clearly illustrated the effects of protest voting. So, we did it, using a clear and simple metaphor, taking into careful consideration the fact that Brazil is a huge country with more than 200 million inhabitants with many coming from poor regions. Thus, the metaphor had to be as simple as: a Blank Whopper made with ingredients chosen by someone else. And the message had to be as simple as: when you let someone else choose for you, you can’t complain about the results.