Yesterday, news broke that Burger King had proposed a collaboration with McDonalds for Peace Day on Sept. 21. In an open letter, speaking from one popular burger joint to another, BK implored McD's to team up with them on the McWhopper, a Whopper/Mac hybrid — but unfortunately, McDonald's response to the McWhopper was less than enthusiastic. Pack your bags, folks; the show's over. There will be no McWhopper this year.
In case you're not in the loop, yesterday Burger King announced that it wanted to call a truce with its fast food rival in honor of the United Nations holiday, Peace Day. If McDonald's had accepted the proposal, the McWhopper would have been available for just that one day — Sept. 21 — at a single location in Atlanta, Ga. halfway between the two company's headquarters. Sounds pretty reasonable, right?
Alas, though, it was not to be. McDonald's CEO Steve Easterbrook released a statement about the McWhopper on the company's Facebook page, and, well... it totally shot down the idea. I'll be honest: It's actually kind of cold. While it does have a point — burgers are small potatoes in the grand scheme of things — I can't help but think that maybe there could have been a nicer way to turn Burger King down. Here, read it for yourself:
Is it just me, or does that all kind of sound like...
...That?
Setting aside the surprise inspired by McDonald's cold shoulder at something that could potentially have leveraged sales, the most shocking thing is this: The whole idea of the McWhopper was actually meant to support a good cause. "Our proposal is designed to generate the most attention and awareness possible for Peace Day and the work of the non-profit organization Peace One Day," Fernando Machado, Senior Vice President for Global Brand Management at Burger King Corporation, wrote in a press release. "We’re being completely transparent with our approach because we want them to take this seriously. It would be amazing if McDonald’s agrees to do this." It seems like a very humble, transparent way to ask to me. In fact, they proposed all of the profits from the McWhopper to be donated to Peace One Day, making this a completely selfless effort. Burger King was also open to making changes, as they said that all of the elements of this idea were "up for discussion," except for the actual date of the event, of course.
I'm not sure there's any hope that McDonalds will change their mind, but let's hope that all of this fuss has risen awareness for Peace Day and will result in more support of both it and the non-profit organization Peace One Day. As Machago commented in the press release (perhaps anticipating McDonald's declining the offer), " If they say no, we’ll hopefully have, at the very least, raised much-needed financial support and consciousness for the great cause that is Peace One Day. And both are well worth the effort." So while the McWhopper sadly won't come to fruition, at least awareness and attention has been brought to this great non-profit organization.
Images: Burger King; Giphy
