Burger King mocks net neutrality repeal via “Whopper Neutrality”
25 Jan 2018
The repeal of Net Neutrality is a hot topic in America, but it can be difficult to understand. That's why the Burger King brand is releasing an eye-opening video called Whopper Neutrality, which replicates scenarios that show the potential effect of the repeal of Net Neutrality.
The recent repeal of Net Neutrality means that internet providers can throttle bandwidth, offer paid fast lanes, block and prioritise content as they wish.
Burger King reenacted what this repeal could mean at the counter with people buying Whopper Sandwiches.
During the Whopper Neutrality experiment, Burger King customers who ordered their Whopper Sandwiches at the regular price had to wait longer to receive their orders.
Other customers received their orders swiftly, because they paid increased fees for faster service. This caused visible anger among those buying at the normal price to suddenly find that their usual Whopper sandwich orders would be made at a slower "mbps," which Burger King interpreted to mean "making burgers per second," rather than the measure of internet speed, "megabits per second."
When the angry customers learned they were part of this Whopper Neutrality video, they chuckled delightedly.
"The repeal of Net Neutrality is a hot topic in America, but it can be very difficult to understand. That's why the Burger King brand created Whopper Neutrality, a social experiment that explains the effects of the repeal of Net Neutrality by putting it in terms anyone can understand: A Whopper sandwich," writes Burger King in the video's description.
In the video, customers paying the minimum amount for their Whoppers were made to wait 15 to 20 minutes unless they agreed to pay a higher price - from $13 for the "fast mbps", to $26 for the "hyperfast mbps" options for a single Whopper Sandwich. A single Whopper usually costs around $4.19. Only high-end restaurants charge anything close to $26 for a burger.
''We believe the internet should be like Burger King restaurants, a place that doesn't prioritise and welcomes everyone,'' said Fernando Machado, Burger King's global chief of marketing. ''That is why we created this experiment, to call attention to the potential effects of net neutrality [repeal].''
