How often do you have a 20 minute conversation with someone you've never met about a product neither of you are using with hundreds, if not thousands, of people listening in? That's what happened to me the other day.

Below, I've posted just my side of the conversation I had with a couple of people on Twitter about Burger King's latest social marketing "gimmick" - the "Whopper Sacrifice" Facebook app, where you "sacrifice" 10 of your Facebook friends in exchange for a free Whopper. My contention is that this is just the latest example of how Burger King's marketing is doing some very smart things in the social media sphere. Folks on the other side of the conversation disagreed basically because they thought it was offensive to think you'd "sacrifice" friends for a free burger. The point I tried to make is that that actually isn't the point of the Facebook campaign at all. The point is to get Burger King Whoppers into the minds of as many people as possible so that thought is taking up more space in their heads than McDonald's Big Mac or Hardee's Thickburger or any other fast food sandwich.

I've removed the Twitter ID's of the folks I was conversing with (and although I certainly disagreed with them on this point, I do respect their opinions and value their contributions - otherwise I wouldn't have been following them to start with) - and I've only posted my side of the conversation. I've done this simply out of respect for those other people's rights to their posts. If you want to see the whole conversation, there are plenty of tools out there where you can view my Twitter stream's archive. I think just my side of the conversation sums up my thoughts on the campaign. You'll notice it goes into a discussion of "#motrinmoms", which I have somewhat similar thoughts on (see this, but keep this in mind) - and I've added links to some parts of the stream to relevant articles or information.

@[REMOVED] Brilliant marketing by BK - even ppl who don't want to do it are promoting them :-)
@[REMOVED] Nope - the whole _point_ is 2 get ppl talking about BK - which they've done & continue 2 do - BK R the current kings of viral mktg.
@[REMOVED] Then when ppl R out who've read "Burger King" 10k times the past month & R looking 4 a quick bite, guess whr they probably go
@[REMOVED] Yep - Motrin Moms is another example of bad word of mouth generating HUGE brainshare for the brand
@[REMOVED] The backlash against the "motrinmoms" was MUCH bigger than the complaints they raised against Motrin
@[REMOVED] You're free to think what you will - it's just silliness and brilliant, brilliant marketing
@[REMOVED] What they got was ppl seeing the name "Motrin" thousands of times, then promptly forgetting the non-issue that brought it up
@[REMOVED] Next time those ppl are in a drug store looking for pain killer, subconscious is full of "Motrin Motrin Motrin Motrin",same as with BK
@[REMOVED] Hehe - dunno about that, I don't care for them either, but I think they are doing some smart marketing moves right now
@[REMOVED] The point isn't really to get ppl to drop their friends for the burger, it's to get ppl to mention Burger King over and over
@[REMOVED] See how much time we just spent talking about them? :-)
@[REMOVED] I agree with that, but there are plenty of ppl who actually like BK burgers. I know a few.
@[REMOVED] So if sum1 who likes BK equally w/ another fastfood joint has been exposed 2 BK over & over, they're more likely 2 go there.
@[REMOVED] You're not the target b/c you've already made a decision on the product.
@[REMOVED] Heh - I don't want 1 - I don't even like them - doesn't make their marketing campaign a mistake
@[REMOVED] If you want to see a marketing campaign that I think _was_ a mistake, check Pepsi's "one lonely calorie" idiocy
@[REMOVED] That could be, but lots of ppl (not U or even me) alrdy think their food is good. Change & they lose those ppl (see "New Coke")

So what do you think? Is Burger King being smart or are they making "offensive" mistakes?  Love to hear your comments below!