# Cross-Promotional Fails Burger King Un-Friends Facebook Over 'Whopper Sacrifice' Snafu By Going Like Sixty | Published 2009-01-16 | Marketing Source: Trend Hunter, https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/cross-promotion-fail-burger-king-unfriends-facebook-from-whopper-sacrifice References: [tech.blorge](http://tech.blorge.com/Structure:) & [insidefacebook](http://www.insidefacebook.com/2009/01/14/whopper-sacrifice-shut-down-by-facebook/) The prospect of cyber-bullying on [Facebook](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/facebook-debuts-at-stagecoach) caused the social network to disable a critical function of Burger King's Whopper Sacrifice promotion. So Burger King just scrapped the whole deal in response. Whopper Sacrifice let Facebookers un-friend 10 people on their friends list to get a coupon for a free [Burger King Whopper](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/burger-glitch). Part of the promotion included a notification to the “friend” you dropped to let them know where your allegiance truly lies. **Implications** - While Facebook hasn't banned the promotion outright, they have disabled the notifications, which they have stated violates their privacy laws. By significantly cutting into the kind of awareness of [Burger King's promotion](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/burger-kings-new-campaign), they have decided it would be better for them to end the ad campaign now and soak in all the short-term publicity they can get out of this situation. ## Trend Insights (Trend Hunter) - Score: 4.3/10 - Popularity: 42% | Activity: 79% | Freshness: 8% - Audience gender: 50% men, 50% women - Primary generations: Millennial - Top markets: North America, Europe ## Categories [Trend Hunter](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends) > [Marketing](https://www.trendhunter.com/marketing) > [Interactive](https://www.trendhunter.com/interactive) ## Key Themes ### Key Themes Behind This Trend - **Cyber-bullying on Facebook:** Opportunity for developing innovative solutions to combat cyber-bullying on social media platforms. - **Privacy Concerns in Promotional Campaigns:** Disruptive innovation opportunity to create privacy-friendly promotional strategies that comply with platform policies. - **Short-term Publicity Marketing:** Opportunity to leverage short-term publicity tactics to create brand awareness and buzz. ### Where This Applies - **Cybersecurity:** Opportunity for cybersecurity firms to develop advanced algorithms and tools to detect and prevent cyber-bullying incidents on social media. - **Digital Marketing:** Disruptive innovation opportunity for marketers to design privacy-conscious promotional campaigns that respect user privacy while still achieving marketing objectives. - **Public Relations:** Opportunity for PR professionals to capitalize on short-term publicity and viral marketing to create positive brand image and increase customer engagement. ## Related on Trend Hunter - [Glitchy Burger Campaigns](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/burger-glitch.md) - [Gamer-Centric Fast Food Campaigns](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/burger-to-king.md) - [Comical Love-Inspired Food Ads](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/burger-king-loveinspired-ads.md) - [Friendly Rival Burgers](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/bff-burger.md) - [Distorted Burger Campaigns](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/ailloween.md) - [Scannable Tattoo Campaigns](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/whopper-tattoo.md) - [Data-Driven QSR Campaigns](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/bk-unwrapped.md) - [Rival QSR Burger Promotions](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/carls-jr-sad-mac-buy-back-promotion.md) - [Flame-Grilled Billboards](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/flame-grilled-billboard.md)