Burger King Wants Customers To Buy McDonald's To Be Valued Only As A Form Of Advance From Small Players To Big Players

Burger King Restaurant. (Photo: Twitter @BurgerKing_ID)

JAKARTA - Two days ago, or to be precise Tuesday 3 November, Burger King Indonesia uploaded on their Instagram account entitled "Order from McDonald's". In the upload, Burger King asked the public to order food from other restaurant outlets such as KFC, Pizza Hut and others. But why is it that they emphasize and post as the title McDonald's?

Yuswohady, Marketing Observer and Managing Partner of Inventure, said that what Burger King Indonesia has done is a form of marketing strategy in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic that has hit Indonesia. But on the other hand, he indicated that there was an intrigue in it, where Burger King just wanted to "find face" with his post.

"Why look for a face? Because in terms of market share, Burger King is far below McDonald's, which has a much bigger market," Yuswohady told VOI, Thursday, November 5.

According to him, Burger King Indonesia seeks to carry out a humble strategy to raise quality. In this case, Burger King hopes to find opportunities to enlarge its brand from viral posts on the social media universe.

"The term, small players shoot big players. And McD understands that very well, so they do not really respond. Something that is viral usually only lasts temporarily," he said.

However, according to Yuswohady, the effect of the Burger King uploads had no effect on their sales. According to him, this has more impact on the brand reputation of Burger King.

However, Yuswohady admitted that the upload of Burger King Indonesia made McDonald's miss out on creativity in the midst of a pandemic. As a fellow player in the food and beverages (FnB) sector, what Burger King Indonesia has done is considered smart.

"In the midst of a pandemic situation, where people are very interested in all forms of empathy, now that's where Burger King Indonesia comes in. That's where McD is missing," said Yuswohady.

As is known, in the upload on the @ burgerking.id Instagram account entitled Order from McDonald's, the company asked the public to order food from McDonald's, Flip Burger, Carl's Jr, Wendy's, Klenger Burger, KFC, CFC, Domino's Pizza, Pizza Hut, and others up to Warung Tegal (Warteg).

"It never occurred to us to ask you to do this, but all restaurants with thousands of employees need your help right now," read the post which was uploaded on Tuesday evening, November 3.

On the other hand, Burger King Indonesia advised that if the public wanted to help, they could order food via delivery, takeaway, and drive-thru orders.

"Enjoying the best choice of Whopper (Burger King products), but ordering a Big Mac (McDonald's product) also doesn't hurt," they wrote.

Apparently, a similar invitation was made by Burger King in England. Unusual advice among rivals for this restaurant business was tweeted live by Burger King in the UK on Monday, November 2. However, the British version of the Burger King campaign, the list of restaurants is not varied compared to Indonesia. Even so, Burger King mentions KFC, Subway and Domino's Pizza, as well as other chains.

"We never thought we would ask you to do this, but a restaurant that employs thousands of staff really needs your support at this time," wrote Burger King UK on the company's Instagram social media account.