Online pranksters hijack Burger King ad that triggers Google devices
Main page News, Tech, US

What's in a Whopper? According to Google "the worst hamburger product sold by Burger King" consists of "a flame-grilled patty made with 100 percent medium-sized child" with no preservatives or fillers and just a splash of cyanide.

It doesn't sound like the most enticing fast food offering in a saturated market but that is the way the global burger chain's latest marketing campaign describes it. Well, sort of.

Burger King has become the latest firm to have an advertising campaign hijacked by online pranksters after the company introduced a television ad designed to activate Google voice-controlled devices.

The ad, which debuted yesterday, starts with a Burger King employee holding up the chain's flagship burger and lamenting that a 15-second ad is nowhere near long enough to describe all the fresh ingredients in a Whopper.

"But I got an idea," he says as the camera zeroes in on his face.

"Okay Google, what is the Whopper sandwich?"

The ad prompts Google devices, such as Google Home assistant or an Android phone with voice search enabled and within range of the TV, to recite Wikipedia's definition of the Whopper.

A Burger King spokesperson said the company "saw an opportunity to do something exciting with the emerging technology of intelligent personal assistant devices". But the chain forgot one crucial thing.

Anyone with an account can edit Wikipedia pages so it wasn't long before pranksters had a field day, altering the description of the Whopper to include some less than appetising ingredients.

But the fun didn't last for long. Only hours after the ad was released Google Home was programmed to stop answering to the ad.

Google had no involvement with the Burger King campaign and has declined to comment.

Read also:
Please describe the error
Close