In an act of solidarity towards small restaurants, the fast food chain sent a message out to its “friends from the hospitality industry” via Instagram and Twitter yesterday (15 December), saying restaurants who use the hashtag #WhopperAndFriends on posts of their signature dishes will be shared on Burger King’s official Instagram page.
The message, entitled "There's more to life than a Whopper", says: "'There are many great dishes from thousands of restaurants that deserve to be as famous as the Whopper. As we head into tier three across more parts of the country, it’s clear independent restaurants need all our support.”
Burger King named independent restaurants Roti King, Sultan’s Place and Dumplings Legend as a few of those which it is keen to elevate.
This is not the first time the fast food giant has encouraged its customers to buy from its competitors. In November, when England went into its second lockdown, the company took to Twitter asking customers to support its biggest rivals McDonald’s, KFC, Subway, Domino’s Pizza as well as smaller restaurants to help support the thousands of restaurants staff.
"Order from McDonald’s. We never thought we’d be asking you to do this," it said in its appeal.
"Just like we never thought we’d be encouraging you to order from KFC, Subway, Domino’s Pizza, Pizza Hut, Five Guys, Greggs, Taco Bell, Papa John’s, Leon or any of the other independent food outlets, too numerous to mention here. In short, from any of our sister food chains (fast or not so fast).
"We never thought we’d be asking you to do this, but restaurants employing thousands of staff need your support at the moment. So, if you want to help, keep treating yourself to tasty meals through home delivery, takeaway or drive thru."