i like you, but i LOVE the whopper. . .

So as I was screen printing the day away at work this afternoon, it dawned on me that I really wanted to write a blog entry tonight. I thought about all the things I could talk about and all the funny jokes I would make and all the new friends I would have because they read my funny blog. Now as I sit down to actually do it, I don't remember much of anything I wanted to talk about, but here it goes anyway...

Yesterday I noticed an article on-line about Burger King's new ad campaign. Being an advertising major, I guess I'm supposed to care about that kind of stuff, so I followed the link and read it. Burger King's new ad campaign for its "Angry Whopper" includes a Facebook application where if you "de-friend" 10 people you receive a coupon for a free Whopper [I was going to link to the site to get the app, but it looks like Burger King took it down]. "Cool", I thought to myself, "I easily have 10 people that are "Facebook friends" but aren't "Real-Life friends". But as I read on I was informed that, unlike regular Facebook, when you "de-friended" someone by using this application, it sends them a message that notified them that you are no longer their friend. This kind of made me pause and really consider if possibly hurting 10 peoples' feelings was worth a free charbroiled hamburger. . .

After 2 seconds, I concluded that yes, getting a free hamburger is a totally legitimate excuse to offend 10 people, so I continued on my quest for a free Whopper. However as I perused my Facebook friend list, I continued to have an uneasy feeling about how people might react when they received the message that I was no longer their friend because I desired the taste of a quarter pound of hot ground beef instead. In my head I pictured disbelief and devastation flashing across the faces of these chosen 10 at the fact that they could no longer look at my profile or pretend they were a part of my life by looking at my photos. Reality soon set in that these 10 (along with probably at least 30 others on my "friend" list) would, upon receiving that fateful message, probably instead say to themselves, "Who the hell is Brian Turney?"

It was a humbling thought, but one that motivated me to follow through and strive after the promised treasure. So I did it. I "de-friended" 10 people for the sake of a Whopper, and this is my confession. Does that make me a bad person? Is de-friending someone on Facebook really that big of a deal? I don't know the answers to these questions, and I probably never will. Such is the moral ambiguity that Facebook has bestowed on our culture. . .

[I realize that my story was long-winded and really anti-climactic. Like I said, I felt like I had stumbled on gold this afternoon when I was going through it in my head.]

On a related note to this story, I feel like the ad campaign was pretty brilliant. I mean I will be going to Burger King for the first time in like 2 years because of it. As somewhat of a connoisseur of fast food, Burger King really doesn't fill a niche for me. When I'm looking for something cheap I hit up McDonald's - Seriously is there anything better and filling for cheaper than a McDonald's Double Cheeseburger? Then there is Wendy's, which for some reason in my mind, seems like its the "healthy" option - it probably is healthy when you get a salad and a baked potato, but no so much when you get a JBC, 2 orders of nuggets, and a large order of fries, eh? And then there is the granddaddy of them all, the best tasting and least healthy of them all - Cook-Out! And that's just looking at burger places and not including the chicken places Bojangles and Zaxbys.

So there you have it, there is just no place for Burger King in my hierarchy of fast food needs, but I will be going there soon to collect my reward for being a self-centered jerk.

And as long as we're on the subject, I think these Whopper, Jr. commercials are hilarious.