Burger King's Strategic Move: Unintentionally Leaks Star Wars Movie Spoilers

The Big Picture

Burger King Germany sparked controversy and attention by offering free burgers to customers who read aloud Star Wars spoilers.

The campaign successfully predicted multiple plot points of The Rise of Skywalker, leading to speculation about leaks and their effect on the movie's reception.

Disney decided not to take legal action against Burger King, despite the possibility of consequences, instead choosing to wait until the promotion concluded and hoping that the matter would gradually lose importance.

‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’ Arrived at a Difficult Time for the Franchise

The saying goes that there's no such thing as bad publicity. However, whether this statement holds up under scrutiny is debatable. Nevertheless, companies have not hesitated to engage in questionable advertising campaigns for the sake of short-term profits. One example is the disturbing billboards for the movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall, which resulted in numerous real Sarah Marshalls receiving unwanted attention. Perhaps the most outrageous case is Burger King's German branch, which once launched a sales campaign centered around spoilers for the upcoming Star Wars film, The Rise of Skywalker. These leaks quickly inundated the internet, temporarily transforming the fast-food chain into the top enemy of both the Star Wars fanbase and the mighty Disney Corporation. Despite the significant risks involved, this strategy undeniably raised the company's profile and could be seen as a resounding success.

Image via Disney

With high expectations, The Rise of Skywalker made its entrance. In December 2019, this final chapter of the iconic Skywalker Saga concluded George Lucas's decades-long plan to expand his original trilogy into a nine-part epic. However, it arrived during a turbulent time for the franchise. The success of The Force Awakens and Rogue One, which rejuvenated the Star Wars brand after the divisive prequel trilogy, was followed by the polarizing response to The Last Jedi and the financial failure of Solo just a few months later. These events ruptured much of the goodwill that had been built. While these films may be gradually gaining vindication in the eyes of moviegoers, their reception at the time (as well as the scrutiny from studio executives) marked them as major missteps this early on in Disney's ownership of the franchise. The release of The Mandalorian in November 2019 brought a whirlwind of excitement, somewhat restoring the lost positivity. However, the fanbase remained cautious about what Lucasfilm had in store for Episode IX.

But despite the efforts of certain corners of the internet to suggest otherwise, there was never any doubt that The Rise of Skywalker would become one of the most highly anticipated films of 2019. After all, it marked the conclusion of a beloved franchise in the entertainment world – how could it be anything less? The news that J.J. Abrams would return as director and co-writer, reprising his role from The Force Awakens, helped to alleviate concerns among anxious fans about the film's direction. Additionally, the announcement that fan favorites Ian McDiarmid and Billy Dee Williams would reprise their roles as Emperor Palpatine and Lando Calrissian respectively, only added to the growing excitement in the media. With audiences entering The Rise of Skywalker with numerous unanswered questions ("How is Palpatine still alive?" "What is the true identity of Rey's parents?"), it's no surprise that a fervent culture of speculation emerged in the lead-up to the film's release. Such phenomena are common within devoted fanbases, but viewed from an outsider's perspective, they are also ripe for exploitation.

Burger King Germany Offered Free Whoppers to Customers Who Read Star Wars Spoilers

Image by LucasFilm

In early December 2019, just a little over a week before The Rise of Skywalker premiered in theaters, Burger King's German branch surprised visitors with an unconventional and memorable marketing campaign. Customers were prompted to download the Burger King app and publicly recite key plot points from the upcoming film. In return, a voice-activated voucher for Burger King's famous Whopper burger would be added to their account. At the same time, Burger King released a commercial set in a fictional restaurant that resembled the visual representation of the r/StarWarsLeak subreddit, ensuring that no customer could leave without being spoiled (even the food packaging had audio chips that played spoilers upon opening). It didn't take long for the #SpoilerWhopper hashtag to trend globally, despite the promotion being limited to one country. Given the proactive nature of the event, one can't help but wonder if that was their intention all along.

The Director of Marketing at Burger King Germany, Klaus Schmäing, orchestrated this campaign. In an email to The Hollywood Reporter, Schmäing explained his intention to challenge people's loyalty to the Whopper by forcing them to choose between the burger and a beloved sci-fi movie. He admitted that the spoilers used in the campaign were sourced from online platforms and hoped that everyone would find humor and entertainment value in it. Burger King deliberately avoided using copyrighted terminology related to Star Wars, referring to characters like Rey as "the young sword lady" and Chewbacca as "the hairy roaring creature." This cautious approach allowed Burger King some leeway in case Disney decided to take legal action.

Fortunately for Burger King, there's no indication that Disney pursued any legal action. Though Disney never publicly commented on Burger King's actions, statements from a Senior Creative Executive at Lucasfilm, Matt Martin, suggested that legal action was unlikely. He mentioned on Twitter that Disney probably wouldn't take action, and even if they did, the promotion would be over by the time they encountered any trouble. This response from Disney was surprising, considering their reputation for protecting their intellectual property, as evidenced by their effort to retrieve a leaked script for The Rise of Skywalker. It's possible that Disney chose not to react to avoid validating the leaks. Instead, they ignored the issue, hoping it would disappear. The fact that the promotion quickly became irrelevant after the film's release confirms that Disney's approach was sensible.

Burger King's Campaign Accurately Predicted ‘The Rise of Skywalker’

Image via Lucasfilm

In retrospect, it is remarkable how many of these spoilers turned out to be accurate. For example, the lingering uncertainty surrounding Rey's lineage was a significant question leading up to The Rise of Skywalker, but German fans had already discovered the answer due to a not-so-subtle reveal stating that "the young sword lady is the grandchild of the old hoodie villain." Other leaks, such as the hairy roaring creature being accidentally killed by Rey but actually surviving, and the blonde general being killed for freeing the prisoners, also aligned with the final release. While a broken clock is right twice a day, Burger King's accurate predictions for The Rise of Skywalker give reason for reflection. However, it is important to note that these theories had been circulating on the internet for months, some originating from the same r/StarWarsLeak subreddit that would later express enthusiasm over these revelations. As amusing as it may be to envision Burger King having a mole within Lucasfilm solely to boost burger sales, reality is seldom that thrilling.

Unfortunately, this suggestion proved more entertaining than the actual film itself. The release of The Rise of Skywalker received a mediocre response from both audiences and critics, quickly becoming the lowest-rated live-action Star Wars film on Rotten Tomatoes. It served as a disappointing conclusion to a trilogy that had initially shown promise, and undoubtedly contributed to Disney and Lucasfilm's struggle to produce another Star Wars film in the subsequent years. Nonetheless, when the day eventually comes for movie fans to venture back into the far, far away galaxy, perhaps we will witness Burger King employing their old tactics once again. As a company accustomed to unconventional advertising campaigns – who could forget their attempt to convince customers to delete ten friends on Facebook in exchange for a free burger – their behavior leading up to The Rise of Skywalker was genuinely unique. After all, there is no such thing as bad publicity... one can only hope that their unwavering belief in that statement was worth incensing one of the most passionate fanbases on the planet.