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Burger King Using Depression As Marketing Tool? - Your Thoughts? (1 Viewer)

Your Take On This?

  • I like it - Raising Awareness

    Votes: 12 26.7%

  • I don't like it - Using Depression to sell hamburgers

    Votes: 22 48.9%

  • On The Fence

    Votes: 11 24.4%
  • Total voters
    45
I don’t understand it.  Being pissed, salty, being called a skank, having a terrible boss, having student loan debt and living with your parents, etc. isn’t mental illness.

 
I don’t care that they’re using depression as a marketing point.  I care that it’s done to denigrate a rival business and it’s done in a tacky manner. 

“Burger King wants to raise awareness around mental health by donating a portion of proceeds to (blank) #feelyourway” would have been aok with me. Burger King taking shots is trashy. 

 
Juxtatarot said:
I don’t understand it.  Being pissed, salty, being called a skank, having a terrible boss, having student loan debt and living with your parents, etc. isn’t mental illness.
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Come on. These are all things that are often residual effects -- or contributing factors -- of clinical depression.

People who are angry are more likely to be suffering from depression.

People who are bullied are more likely to suffer from depression.

People who have high debts are more likely to suffer from depression. 

 
I could see the validity If it were an antidepressant drug manufacturer or some relevant not-for-profit organization.

But for a fast food company, IMO it comes across like a tacky exploitative money grab.

 
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When we do fast food I am totally prepared to....ah, it was three nachos, ok. With some kid..."huh?"  I don't like anything about the experience. 

I wouldn't be shocked at anything these places do, I don't have any high expectations at all. Thank God I never had to work at one.

 
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[scooter] said:
Come on. These are all things that are often residual effects -- or contributing factors -- of clinical depression.

People who are angry are more likely to be suffering from depression.

People who are bullied are more likely to suffer from depression.

People who have high debts are more likely to suffer from depression. 
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My concern is it seems to trivializes mental illness.  Lots of people have bad or sad things happen to them who aren’t clinically depressed.  Perhaps I’m being too critical though. I’m open to that.

 
https://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/mha-excited-partner-burger-king-restaurants-real-meal-boxes

MHA Excited to Partner with Burger King Restaurants "Real Meal" Boxes

Mental Health America (MHA) is pleased to announce a new collaboration with BURGER KING® to bring attention to mental health.

BURGER KING® restaurants understands that no one is happy all the time. Today they are launching new boxes, dubbed Real Meals, which come in a variety of different moods – including the Pissed Meal, Blue Meal, Salty Meal, YAAAS Meal and DGAF Meal. The boxes, which will also have MHA’s logo included, can be ordered with the purchase of a WHOPPER® meal, which includes the flame-grilled WHOPPER® sandwich, plus French fries and a drink.

“MHA is very pleased to partner with Burger King,” said Paul Gionfriddo, president and CEO, MHA. “While not everyone would think about pairing fast food and mental health, MHA believes in elevating the conversation in all communities in order to address mental illness Before Stage 4. By using its internationally-known reputation to discuss the importance of mental health, Burger King is bringing much-needed awareness to this important and critical discussion – and letting its customers know that is OK to not be OK.”

A film to support the initiative launches today on YouTube.com/BurgerKing. With the Real Meals campaign, the BURGER KING® brand believes encouraging people to “be their way” and “feel their way.” With Real Meals, the BURGER KING® brand celebrates being yourself and feeling however you want to feel.

MHA believes we shouldn’t keep mental illness to ourselves, that there is power in sharing – and that when you are struggling, there is hope. If someone is concerned about their mental health, one of the simplest steps to take is to take an online screening. Since its inception in May 2014, MHA has collected over 4 million screens through our online screening program MHA Screening. Today, MHA collects around 3,000 screenings daily.

The boxes launch on May 1 in conjunction with Mental Health Month. Since 1949, MHA and our affiliates across the country have led the observance of May is Mental Health Month by reaching millions of people through the media, local events and online screenings. Participating restaurant locations: 3301 Fourth Avenue South, Seattle, Washington, 98134; 474 7th Avenue, New York, New York, 10018; 4918 West Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, California, 90027; Farm-to-Market 969, Austin, Texas, 78724; 1100-5th Street, Miami Beach, Florida, 33139.

 
“YAAAS Meal”? Sure ... I could Google it, I guess. That’s actually an acronym people really know?

”DGAF” ... that I do know.

 
HellToupee said:
The boxes launch on May 1 in conjunction with Mental Health Month. Since 1949, MHA and our affiliates across the country have led the observance of May is Mental Health Month by reaching millions of people through the media, local events and online screenings. Participating restaurant locations: 3301 Fourth Avenue South, Seattle, Washington, 98134; 474 7th Avenue, New York, New York, 10018; 4918 West Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, California, 90027; Farm-to-Market 969, Austin, Texas, 78724; 1100-5th Street, Miami Beach, Florida, 33139.
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Does that mean it is at only those 5 locations, yet trying to raise national awareness?

 
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Terrible. I didn't read about the campaign, but the ad doesn't have much to do with actual mood disorders, except possibly reactive depression. But I guess fast food makes you feel better, at least temporarily, so there's that.

 
BK is desperate. They are almost out of biz. Exploiting mi is tacky and downplays the magnitude of clinical depression. 

 
[scooter] said:
Come on. These are all things that are often residual effects -- or contributing factors -- of clinical depression.

People who are angry are more likely to be suffering from depression.

People who are bullied are more likely to suffer from depression.

People who have high debts are more likely to suffer from depression. 
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I've seen some of the behaviors and almost exact words depicted in the video from family and friends with mood disorders. The young woman with the baby stroller showing post-partum depression was not that convincing, but they didn't want to be too negative. 

Now the Impossible Burger is going nationwide. I can really have it my way. 

 
To be fair — if we really need to be “fair” to massive corporations and the advertising agencies they employ (in this case, the Boston-based MullenLowe) — Burger King is not the first brand to use depression, millennial anxiety, or general malaise to sell food.
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Good for him.  Nice to see GM getting some endorsement deals.

 
I have to say, I love Burger Kings burgers.  I used to crap on BK so much.  Then I had one of their King burgers, I think they call it.  Seriously.  I think it was the best burger I've had in a long time.  It was huge.  I was only able to finish 3/4 of it.  But I wrapped up the other part and I ate it the following morning for breakfast.  Still tasted amazing.  It was crazy expensive for a fast food burger, but it was worth it.  Just couldn't see getting one a lot.

 
[scooter] said:
Come on. These are all things that are often residual effects -- or contributing factors -- of clinical depression.

People who are angry are more likely to be suffering from depression.

People who are bullied are more likely to suffer from depression.

People who have high debts are more likely to suffer from depression. 
Click to expand...
I agree..the first new vehicle I bought out of college was way more expensive than I could afford at the time and I was paying high rent as well in downtown Ann Arbor.  Every month when my car payment and rent was due I was actually angry and depressed for a couple of days.

As far as BKs food goes if I am forced to eat fast food I like their burger better than Mac and Wendys.  Still a couple of notches below Chick Filet-A though

 
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Voted on the fence - not a bad idea for a company to try to help a cause. Just don't quite think this one hits the mark. 

 
Godsbrother said:
Didn't make me want to go to Burger King so I would say the ad is ineffective.
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There is not an ad that would make be go or not go to any fast food joint.   I only go when desperate and nothing else is around, traveling, or drunk.

 
Terminalxylem said:
Terrible. I didn't read about the campaign, but the ad doesn't have much to do with actual mood disorders, except possibly reactive depression.
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I don't have a fully-functional empathy meter as it is. I was unable to tell from this video that it was aiming somehow to depict mental illness as opposed to depicting people going through difficult life circumstances.

[scooter], while your points are taken ... I had thought one of the tenets of mental illness was that like any disease, it really can happen to anyone of any circumstance. That makes the visual shorthand of conflating prosaic hard times with mental illness somewhat clunky. The charmed-life trust-fund guy with severe clinical depression ... harder to make compelling in video form?

 
The PTSD Burger is excellent. Pickle, Tomato, Sertraline and Doxepin- sounds even better than one would imagine. It's the perfect cheap food choice if you were sexually assaulted by a neighbor or just got home from military service in a combat zone. 

I love this idea. 

 
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Not a good look especially when the product they're selling likely contributes to depression  :thumbdown:

 
As someone who suffers from a form of depression, I saw what they were trying to do and it didn't bother me at all. In fact, the pissed off meal was :lol:  

 
Tom Servo said:
As someone who suffers from a form of depression, I saw what they were trying to do and it didn't bother me at all. In fact, the pissed off meal was :lol:  
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This thread inspired me to go to the brand new BK near me to get one.

Its been a decade since BK has entered my digestive track.. wasn't as bad as I thought.

 
matuski said:
This thread inspired me to go to the brand new BK near me to get one.

Its been a decade since BK has entered my digestive track.. wasn't as bad as I thought.
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This is along the lines of what I was thinking.  In these days of gluten free, vegan, soy intolerant, earth muffins, they should promote it as an intense one time detox.

 
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