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Whopper Sacrifice Forced to Disable Behavior by Facebook (Updated)
January 14th, 2009
| By Justin Smith | 66 Comments » |
A week after the Whopper Sacrifice application made waves for its creative (and aggressive) use of Facebook friend removals as a way to spread the application, Facebook has forced it to disable the app’s functionality, according to the developer.
Facebook has clarified that it has not shut the app down – it still exists – but rather it has required the developer to remove its functionality for violating users’ expectations of privacy. Normally, no notification is sent when a user removes a friend on Facebook. However, the Whopper Sacrifice application posted a feed story letting others know the friend was being sacrificed for a Whopper before finalizing the removal.
“We encourage creativity from developers and companies using Facebook Platform, but we also must ensure that applications meet users’ expectations. After constructive conversations with Burger King and the developer of the application, they have decided to conclude their campaign rather than continue with the restrictions we placed on their application,” a Facebook spokesperson told Inside Facebook in an updated statement.
During the last week, the app was used by 82,000 people to delete over 230,000 friendships on Facebook. Users who “sacrificed” at least 10 friends received a coupon for a free Whopper at Burger King.
The app, developed by Refresh Partners and Crispin Porter, quickly became a hit the same day it launched.
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January 14th, 2009 at 1:26 pm
You knew this had to happen eventually.
January 14th, 2009 at 1:29 pm
More press for BK
January 14th, 2009 at 2:26 pm
If Facebook wants to disable the notification feature, BK should fight back, and turn it into one big publicity stunt. They’ve already received tons of press for this, so why not milk out a little more? (Having a TV commercial with that freaky King guy at a fake press conference about the take-down would be stellar.)
http://thefutureofads.com/2009/01/09/burger-king-lets-people-sacrifice-friendships-for-whoppers/
January 14th, 2009 at 2:38 pm
[...] el Whopper Sacrifice 14Ene09 Nos avisa Justin Smith que una semana después del rotundo éxito del Whopper Sacrifice, Facebook, que todavía no ha dado [...]
January 14th, 2009 at 2:38 pm
I agree with Cory. More publicity for BK and they should run with it. Start a group on FB to fight it, etc. Was there any evidence of FB users complaining about the “privacy violations”?
January 14th, 2009 at 2:58 pm
I think the notification feature is not what makes the application a success. Rather, it is the idea that users may be willing to sacrifice friends for a Whopper that makes the application intriguing.
While I did not install the application (I have no friends that I want to dump; love you all!!), I would be annoyed if dumping friends showed in my news feed.
I think showing in the news feed that the application was added is enough to promote it.
January 14th, 2009 at 3:10 pm
That’s sad, because I thought it was pretty funny. Except when some of my friend (remaining nameless) said they would sacrifice me.
January 14th, 2009 at 3:43 pm
I think that part of the problem was also that the application may have been violating some of the terms that restrict caching of users information (including friend relationships) more than 24 hours. If the BK app kept track of these relationships for more than 24 hours then they would be in violation of the privacy policy.
According to the TOS, developers can store the users id (for use as a primary key in a DB for example) but not much else. Additional information that is persisted is restricted to application specific information (which would not include the friend relationships or number of total friends at a given time).
January 14th, 2009 at 3:51 pm
[...] app has 82,771 monthly active users, with more than 230,000 friendships sacrificied so far. The app was built for Burger King by Refresh Partners in [...]
January 14th, 2009 at 3:54 pm
[...] disabled the “Whopper Sacrifice” app after 82,000 Facebook users gleefully deleted some 230,000 [...]
January 14th, 2009 at 4:08 pm
Yea, this ap seemed kind of counter-productive for Facebook. Great for BK but it removes connections with other people on FB and connections is what makes FB and social media successful.
January 14th, 2009 at 5:27 pm
Cory that is a really smart idea that BK should run with.
If I were BK I would fight this all the way through litigation. The press they will get from this will out surpass any potential reach they would ever get with the app itself.
January 14th, 2009 at 6:36 pm
[...] from users. This is the future of advertising. Or it could have been, if Facebook hadn’t shut it down, citing privacy issues: We encourage creativity from developers and brands using Facebook Platform, [...]
January 14th, 2009 at 7:34 pm
my personal opinion is that the campaign was lacking anyway, marketing campaigns and internet marketing are getting really boring nowadays, very predictable. heres an idea, sell a product for a set price, taxes included, and work on having top quality and then the product will sell itself.
sorry for the grammar.
Adrian
January 14th, 2009 at 7:35 pm
I sacrificed 10 friend to get my free Whopper. They took the best part of the app, your friends getting a message that they were being sacrificed for a Whopper. If you did not want your friend to know that you had sacrificed them for a free Whopper, then you should not had used the App.
January 14th, 2009 at 7:57 pm
[...] Facbookは大喜び、だよね。有名ブランドがいかにユーザーを強く引きつけるかをマジソン街の代理店たちに見せつけるのに、この以上の事例はない。いや、そうだったはずだ、Facebookがプライバシー問題を掲げてこのアプリを禁止してさえいなければ。 Facebookプラットホームをお使いの開発者やブランドのみなさんには創造性を発揮していただくことをお薦めしておりますが、一方でプライバシーに関するユーザーの期待にも答える必要があります。このアプリケーションは、ユーザーが友人を削除したことを人に伝えることによってユーザーのプライバシーに反する行為を助長しています。当該開発者に連絡を取り、解決案を提示してあります。並行してユーザーのみなさまがFacebook上で確立した信頼を守るべき手段をとらせていただきました。 [...]
January 14th, 2009 at 8:20 pm
[...] Facebook shutdown the Whopper Sacrifice campaign, which had users un-friend 10 people for a free hamburger, lamely citing privacy issues. [...]
January 14th, 2009 at 8:58 pm
[...] today Facebook shut down the highly successful Burger King Whopper Sacrifice application. The application that we previously [...]
January 14th, 2009 at 11:01 pm
[...] app has 82,771 monthly active users, with more than 230,000 friendships sacrificied so far. It was built for Burger King by Refresh Partners in partnership [...]
January 14th, 2009 at 11:22 pm
Good! This application violated SEVERAL Facebook Developer TOS statements. A thread on the developer forums listing out each violation had several pages going.
January 15th, 2009 at 12:27 am
[...] privacy are maintained. The application remains active on Facebook,” a Facebook spokesperson told Inside Facebook. “We encourage creativity from developers and brands using Facebook Platform, but we also must [...]
January 15th, 2009 at 1:41 am
[...] Gasiti o analiza completa a campaniei aici. Iar daca va pasioneaza diavolul din detalii, aici e o explicatie a motivului pentru care a fost “sacrificata” aplicatia pe Facebook. [...]
January 15th, 2009 at 2:08 am
[...] it seems Facebook has required changes to the application due to privacy issues, according to Inside Facebook. “Facebook has clarified that it has not shut the app down – it still exists – but rather [...]
January 15th, 2009 at 2:27 am
[...] Facebook shut the application down citing privacy concerns. According to Inside Facebook, it was because the site “sent a notification to the friend being removed letting them know [...]
January 15th, 2009 at 3:05 am
[...] reached out to the developer with suggested solutions,” Facebook said in a comment to the Inside Facebook Blog. “In the meantime, we are taking the necessary steps to assure the trust users have [...]
January 15th, 2009 at 4:15 am
[...] response to a hugely successful Burger King viral campaign; commenters on the TechCrunch story and Inside Facebook coverage are in agreement – their response serves only to generate more publicity for BK. [...]
January 15th, 2009 at 4:37 am
[...] from users. This is the future of advertising. Or it could have been, if Facebook hadn’t shut it down, citing privacy issues: We encourage creativity from developers and brands using Facebook Platform, [...]
January 15th, 2009 at 4:59 am
Good.
January 15th, 2009 at 5:03 am
[...] from users. This is the future of advertising. Or it could have been, if Facebook hadn’t shut it down, citing privacy issues: We encourage creativity from developers and brands using Facebook Platform, [...]
January 15th, 2009 at 5:47 am
[...] sacrifice, l’application facebook qui a fait le tour du web, en un temps record. Hier, le blog Insidefacebook.com nous apprenait que l’application de Burger King avait été désactivée [...]
January 15th, 2009 at 6:53 am
[...] Facebook shut it down due to privacy issues as they say. 233,906 friends were removed by 82,771 people in less than a [...]
January 15th, 2009 at 7:35 am
I would be totally psyched if they kept the app but disabled the de-friend notification! That’s the whole reason I didn’t want to do it. Maybe it’s a generational thing–and this is totally my observation–but I think recent Facebook converts take “friend” way too seriously and being “de-friended” would cause all kinds of real-life drama. (I am 40, to give you an idea of where my perspective comes from). For “young” people Facebook is more casual and more about fun–if you know a person, or a person one of your people knows, or whatever–you friend them but don’t think much of it. It’s more of a popularity thing to have a million friends. But the older demographic that is joining Facebook in droves was most likely dragged kicking and screaming and was very skeptical about the whole thing–then started loving it as they connected with old friends. It’s way more personal for “older” people–and they would definitely be offended to be “de-friended.”
Again, that’s just my perspective…so back to my original point–that demographic might be more willing to participate if people couldn’t see they’d been defriended.
January 15th, 2009 at 7:44 am
[...] from users. This is the future of advertising. Or it could have been, if Facebook hadn’t shut it down, citing privacy issues… Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)“Facebook [...]
January 15th, 2009 at 7:59 am
[...] beendete diese Kampagne nun mit einem Hinweis auf die Privacy der Daten. We encourage creativity from developers and [...]
January 15th, 2009 at 1:14 pm
I knew this was a disaster as soon as it was announced. Women in particular wouldn’t go for being publicly put down as not worth a tenth of a Whopper. Facebook covered up their own complicity in this foolishness by hiding behind their sudden concern for privacy. Ineptness rules at FB, BK and Crispin Porter on this one. At WomenCertified we could teach them something about marketing and selling to women.
January 15th, 2009 at 4:06 pm
[...] from users. This is the future of advertising. Or it could have been, if Facebook hadn’t shut it down, citing privacy issues: “We encourage creativity from developers and brands using Facebook [...]
January 16th, 2009 at 12:06 am
[...] from users. This is the future of advertising. Or it could have been, if Facebook hadn’t shut it down, citing privacy issues: We encourage creativity from developers and brands using Facebook Platform, [...]
January 16th, 2009 at 8:17 am
[...] Facebook reports that the “creative (and aggressive) use of Facebook friend removals as a way to spread the [Whopper [...]
January 16th, 2009 at 10:05 am
[...] for Burger King, you cannot have it your way on Facebook. The Palo Alto-based social network shuttered Whopper Sacrifice earlier this week citing privacy concerns. The problem: the Whopper Sacrifice app informed those unfortunate users [...]
January 17th, 2009 at 5:25 am
[...] from users. This is the future of advertising. Or it could have been, if Facebook hadn’t shut it down, citing privacy issues: We encourage creativity from developers and brands using Facebook Platform, [...]
January 17th, 2009 at 6:23 pm
[...] reached out to the developer with suggested solutions,” Facebook said in a comment to the Inside Facebook Blog. “In the meantime, we are taking the necessary steps to assure the trust users have [...]
January 17th, 2009 at 7:46 pm
[...] King’s mildly controversial and thoroughly amusing (at least to me) whopper sacrifice program seems to have upped the ante on my gag. Short form: they’ll give you a free whopper [...]
January 18th, 2009 at 12:59 am
[...] from users. This is the future of advertising. Or it could have been, if Facebook hadn’t shut it down, citing privacy [...]
January 18th, 2009 at 7:35 pm
today i gt a msg like disable warning thn i can’t send fnd requst i never misuse my facebook y i can’t facebook disabled my account for adding too many people. i dont understand…if the point of facebook is to add friends, why is there now a limit on how many people you add. And if you add to many people, hoping to get back on soon. I just enjoy using the site. my facebook has just been disabled and it’s really frustrating…i want it back. There is no “Abuse” as they like to put it.
Help please!
Thank you
January 19th, 2009 at 6:03 am
[...] lived) whopper sacrifice campaign on face book has been stopped. But not actually by face book, according to Inside Facebookonly a small feature of the campaign (albeit the most important one!) was forced to be disabled, [...]
January 19th, 2009 at 9:21 am
[...] 19, 2009 A cautionary tale about the dangers of treading too close to the line of Facebook terms and conditions. Burger King [...]
January 19th, 2009 at 11:54 pm
[...] Inside Facebook, la cadena de restaurantes consiguió que 82.000 usuarios borraran 230.000 contactos, sin embargo, [...]
January 21st, 2009 at 3:34 pm
[...] a week after Whopper Sacrifice launched, Facebook did ask the developer to disable one functionality of the application – its ability to notify the friend who was being [...]
January 21st, 2009 at 7:49 pm
[...] nehmen würde. Und genau das ist jetzt passiert. Facebook hat die Aktion gestoppt – offiziell mit folgender Begründung: We encourage creativity from developers and brands using Facebook Platform, but we also must [...]
January 23rd, 2009 at 9:23 am
[...] know though, Facebook has issues too! Get this, Facebook shut down the Whopper Sacrifice application! In the week prior 82,000 people removed 230,000 friends! Facebook claims there were “privacy [...]
January 23rd, 2009 at 2:46 pm
[...] poco, Burguer King hizo de las suyas y los de la red social tuvieron que tomar cartas en el asunto. El final es que a Burger King todo [...]
January 26th, 2009 at 9:14 am
[...] http://www.insidefacebook.com/2009/01/14/whopper-sacrifice-shut-down-by-facebook/ [...]
January 26th, 2009 at 12:51 pm
Could we say that Burger King was being anti-social?
February 2nd, 2009 at 6:49 am
[...] recently shut down a Crispin Porter campaign for Burger King called Whopper Sacrifice but closed it down due to privacy issues. Which got me thinking about how Facebook allowing Multi Level Marketing applications on their [...]
February 3rd, 2009 at 4:18 am
[...] עליהם, וגם השיגה באזז לא קטן סביב המוצר שלה: וופר. לבסוף הושלכה ברגר קינג מפייסבוק אבל מנהלי הקמפיין כבר השיגו את [...]
March 18th, 2009 at 6:26 pm
[...] “Whopper Sacrifice” lasted until January 14th when Facebook disabled an element of the program that violated users “expectations” of privacy. There’s a debate in there somewhere, and Burger King could have continued with the program’s fixes, but the meat of this burger-selling story is the remarkable lengths BK’s agency (Crispin, Porter + Bogusky) went to sell Whoppers. [...]
April 2nd, 2009 at 10:32 am
[...] doubled to 54,000 within an year. And how about exchanging your 10 Facebook friends for a free Burger-King whooper? Within a week after its launch 82,000 people bartered over 230,000 friendships on Facebook for a [...]
April 20th, 2009 at 2:34 pm
I would recommend you to visit FacebookDisabled. It explains in detail how to get your Facebook account back if it was disabled.
May 5th, 2009 at 3:45 pm
Greedings to all FaceBook users my FaceBook account was “DISABLE” 05-03-09 for to many friends request. but when you read the terms of Agreedment it dose not say how many friend request you can add like for example you can only add 50/100/75 something like that but when you read the Agreedment it dose not say anything about that. but at the end of the day i realy like FaceBook thank you.HARVEY
May 13th, 2009 at 1:18 pm
[...] Inside Facebook, la cadena de restaurantes consiguió que 82.000 usuarios borraran 230.000 contactos, sin embargo, [...]
May 17th, 2009 at 7:08 am
nice information…thanks for sharing…
June 8th, 2009 at 11:22 am
Sometimes the truth hurts. I think Facebook was afraid of the sacrifices people like me would make. For example: I would sacrifice Facebook for a Whopper.
June 9th, 2009 at 12:27 pm
[...] InsideFacebook reports that in one week, the app was used by 82,000 people to delete over 230,000 friendships on Facebook. Then Facebook placed some restrictions on the application and Burger King decided to conclude their campaign. In fact, Burger King got what it wanted: attention! In few days! Creative use of social networking marketing!!! If you enjoyed reading this, subscribe to my RSS Feed(you can always unsubscribe later) SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: “Dump 10 Facebook friends and get a free sandwich!”, url: “http://www.gnuband.org/2009/06/09/dump_10_facebook_friends_and_get_a_free_sandwich/” }); [...]
October 6th, 2009 at 1:17 pm
[...] and that includes what they’ve done on Facebook — who can forget the Whopper Sacrifice application, where you could de-friend people in exchange for a free burger. But this cleverness has not [...]
October 19th, 2009 at 7:38 am
[...] http://www.insidefacebook.com/2009/01/14/whopper-sacrifice-shut-down-by-facebook/ [...]
October 28th, 2009 at 11:40 pm
[...] media has been a disaster for some big name brands. Who can forget Burger King’s Whopper Sacrifice on Facebook, or the Quiznos 2 Girls, 1 Sub video? Social media can be a powerful thing, but the [...]