# Burger King's 1 cent Whopper promotion.
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burger-kings-1-cent-whopper-promotion/825607
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [December 5, 2018, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burger-kings-1-cent-whopper-promotion/825607 "2018-12-05T12:35:11Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2018, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burger-kings-1-cent-whopper-promotion/825607/1 "2018-12-05T12:35:11Z")
Burger King’s promotions are a lot of fun. This time they are throwing some serious shade at McDonald’s. LOL
I plan to get a few 1 cent burgers between now and the 12th. I can always delete the App later.
Our closest McDonald’s is adjacent to a shopping center. Park, order, and then go pick it up. Burger King is just down the road.
You do have to follow the Apps directions to the Burger King location. It’s supposed to be the closest one to that McDonald’s.
> **[Burger King is giving away Whoppers for 1 cent — but you have to go to...](https://amp.businessinsider.com/burger-king-debuts-mcdonalds-whopper-deal-2018-12)**
>
> Burger King is telling customers to go to McDonald's as part of a new deal.
> [@](#):
>
> On Tuesday, the fast-food chain announced that it was “turning more than 14,000 McDonald’s into Burger King restaurants.”
>
> In fact, Burger King is debuting a McDonald’s-themed deal. If customers go within 600 feet of a McDonald’s location, they can order a Whopper for one cent via the revamped Burger King app. The deal starts Tuesday and runs through December 12.
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### Author:  [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2018, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burger-kings-1-cent-whopper-promotion/825607/2 "2018-12-05T14:37:55Z")
I haven’t had a Whopper in a long time, maybe a couple years. But it is one of the better fast food burgers out there. Problem is there aren’t any in my immediate location and it’s not something I go out of my way for. From either my home or work, I’d have to drive 10+ minutes to get to a BK. But for a penny, maybe I’ll try this. Thanks for the heads up.
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### Author:  [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2018, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burger-kings-1-cent-whopper-promotion/825607/3 "2018-12-05T14:51:08Z")
It sounds like the promotion requires the customer to turn on the location service for the BK app. Probably, you could turn it off after taking advantage of the promotion but I’ll bet that many won’t do that. Ultimately this will provide them with all sorts of data about where and when people travel that’s worth a lot more than a crappy free hamburger.
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2018, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burger-kings-1-cent-whopper-promotion/825607/4 "2018-12-05T15:17:36Z")
n/m
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2018, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burger-kings-1-cent-whopper-promotion/825607/5 "2018-12-05T15:41:27Z")
Yeah, it’s a clever trick, to harvest lots of valuable information, and make it look “legitimate”. Which I put in scare quotes because they’re not even trying to pretend that it’s not a dirty trick-- They’re just pretending that it’s a dirty trick against McDonald’s, instead of a dirty trick against their customers.
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### Author:  [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2018, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burger-kings-1-cent-whopper-promotion/825607/6 "2018-12-05T15:48:59Z")
hmm
It’s important to uninstall the BK App after the promotion.
A lot of Apps access location. Yelp for example. I don’t worry about it.
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### Author:  [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2018, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burger-kings-1-cent-whopper-promotion/825607/7 "2018-12-05T16:20:09Z")
> [@Chronos](#):
>
> Yeah, it’s a clever trick, to harvest lots of valuable information, and make it look “legitimate”. Which I put in scare quotes because they’re not even trying to pretend that it’s not a dirty trick-- They’re just pretending that it’s a dirty trick against McDonald’s, instead of a dirty trick against their customers.
I’m sure that in general “More people with BK app on phone” translates to “more customers.” It’s basically built in advertising every time you look at your phone.
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### Author:  [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2018, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burger-kings-1-cent-whopper-promotion/825607/8 "2018-12-05T16:24:58Z")
What nefarious scheme are they going to carry out using my location information? Why should I care if they have it?
Asking hypothetically, because I’m not a huge fan of the Whopper and won’t be taking the time to drive to a McDonald’s, then a BK, just for a crappy burger.
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2018, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burger-kings-1-cent-whopper-promotion/825607/9 "2018-12-05T16:42:02Z")
> [@aceplace57](#):
>
> hmm
>
> It’s important to uninstall the BK App after the promotion.
>
> A lot of Apps access location. Yelp for example. I don’t worry about it.
Only if you let it, and there’s usually two levels of tracking it can do. In my location services for Yelp, for example, there are three levels of access: Never, While Using App, and Always. It gives the note: “Yelp receives your location while using the app to search for nearby businesses. Allow Yelp to ‘Always’ receive your location and we’ll also send pushes about interesting nearby businesses and events.”
You don’t need location services to use Yelp, it just makes it more convenient to do so when opening the app since it can give you automatic nearby recommendations without you having to type an address or zip code. I have most my location services on apps set to “while using app,” except one automatic mileage tracking app which I have set to “always.” And then apps that I can ascertain no good reason for them needing location services, I have set to “never.”
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### Author:  [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2018, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burger-kings-1-cent-whopper-promotion/825607/10 "2018-12-05T16:53:46Z")
There’s a BK next to a McD about a mile from my house. Not that I’m going to sign up for the nefarious app, but I wonder if the promotion will be good there – maybe they’ll force you to go to a different McD. Also wondering what restrictions there are. Can a person get a 1-cent burger 20 times a day? Can six people, all with cell phones, in the same car all get a penny burger?
I’ll be interested to hear all the weasliness the accompanies the promotion.
There are lots of fast food places nearby. BK is the worst, due to abominable service.
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### Author:  [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2018, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burger-kings-1-cent-whopper-promotion/825607/11 "2018-12-05T17:37:52Z")
lol “nefarious”
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### Author:  [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2018, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burger-kings-1-cent-whopper-promotion/825607/12 "2018-12-05T17:49:22Z")
One cent? Think I’ll hold out for a better deal.
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2018, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burger-kings-1-cent-whopper-promotion/825607/13 "2018-12-05T18:37:03Z")
Heck, even without the app, they could probably make money selling 1-cent burgers, just from the fries and drink upsales.
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### Author:  [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2018, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burger-kings-1-cent-whopper-promotion/825607/14 "2018-12-05T23:36:46Z")
> [@ioioio](#):
>
> There’s a BK next to a McD about a mile from my house. Not that I’m going to sign up for the nefarious app, but I wonder if the promotion will be good there – maybe they’ll force you to go to a different McD. Also wondering what restrictions there are. Can a person get a 1-cent burger 20 times a day? Can six people, all with cell phones, in the same car all get a penny burger?
>
> I’ll be interested to hear all the weasliness the accompanies the promotion.
>
> There are lots of fast food places nearby. BK is the worst, due to abominable service.
According to an article without an ad-blocker blocker you can only do it once. So only one per app.
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### Author:  [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2018, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burger-kings-1-cent-whopper-promotion/825607/15 "2018-12-06T00:40:40Z")
> [@Babale](#):
>
> What nefarious scheme are they going to carry out using my location information? Why should I care if they have it?
Big Burger is watching you!
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### Author:  [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2018, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burger-kings-1-cent-whopper-promotion/825607/16 "2018-12-06T00:44:56Z")
I am missing the point. How does going near a McDonald’s first hurt McD’s?
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### Author:  [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2018, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burger-kings-1-cent-whopper-promotion/825607/17 "2018-12-06T01:17:53Z")
> [@hajario](#):
>
> I am missing the point. How does going near a McDonald’s first hurt McD’s?
I believe it’s suppose to show a consumer how far away the local Burger King is from McDonalds, and if it’s close enough it helps somebody to remember that they could always go to their local BK instead of McDonalds.
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### Author:  [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2018, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burger-kings-1-cent-whopper-promotion/825607/18 "2018-12-06T06:13:15Z")
> [@Asuka](#):
>
> I believe it’s suppose to show a consumer how far away the local Burger King is from McDonalds, and if it’s close enough it helps somebody to remember that they could always go to their local BK instead of McDonalds.
Then why not from your house?
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2018, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burger-kings-1-cent-whopper-promotion/825607/19 "2018-12-06T14:45:01Z")
It’s not about actually trying to hurt McDonald’s. It’s about making it look like it’s hurting McDonald’s, because there are a lot of potential customers who like siding with a bully.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the net effect ends up helping McDonald’s: Customer goes to McDonald’s, tries to download the app, gets frustrated with some problem or another in getting the app to work, and then decides, heck, they’re hungry and there’s a McDonald’s right there.
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### Author:  [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2018, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burger-kings-1-cent-whopper-promotion/825607/20 "2018-12-06T18:14:04Z")
> [@Chronos](#):
>
> …they’re not even trying to pretend that it’s not a dirty trick-- They’re just pretending that it’s a dirty trick against McDonald’s, instead of a dirty trick against their customers.
>
> …It’s not about actually trying to hurt McDonald’s. It’s about making it look like it’s hurting McDonald’s…
The wisdom of Chronos. Well put.
Dennis
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