In Social Media Marketing, the Burger King Has It His Way

On the night of the Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao fight in Las Vegas in May, most Burger King franchisees were unaware their brand had found a way to advertise during the commercial-free event, which drew a record 4.4 million pay-per-view sales, almost double the previous high, and was viewed by millions more worldwide. So when the King, the chain’s robed mascot, emerged into the MGM Grand’s arena just off Mayweather’s left shoulder, Shoukat Dhanani’s phone started to light up. His company, Houston Foods, owns about 460 Burger King restaurants, and he represents his fellow franchisees on the company’s marketing council. “Everyone wanted to know what was up with the King,” he says. Besides the millions of viewers globally, within hours the King’s appearance in Mayweather’s entourage alongside Justin Bieber was all over Twitter and Facebook, generating big-time buzz for the restaurant chain.

Media types speculated that Burger King paid Mayweather $1 million to pull off the stunt, a fraction of the tab for a 30-second Super Bowl ad. “They’re spending that money very wisely,” Dhanani says. “What we used to spend and what we used to get, and what we spend now and what we get, it’s a big difference.”