Burger King Jumps Into the Net Neutrality Debate Fast food giant Burger King is jumping head first into the net neutrality debate. Despite providing no substantive lobbying or policy support for net neutrality until now, the company this week released a new, surprisingly good ad supporting the open internet. In it, the company tries to explain net neutrality with a gag exploring what "paid prioritization" might look like in a fast food restaurant. In the ad, actors playing Burger King employees taunt customers by making them wait for absurd amounts of time to receive their food--unless they pay huge tolls to get it quickly.

The ad even takes a moment to make fun of FCC boss Ajit Pai's giant Reese's mug, his trademark attempt at eccentricity. As Recode notes, this is the first time Burger King as a brand has even mentioned the concept. "Burger King did not weigh in at the FCC in 2015 when it wrote the net neutrality rules that the agency’s Republican leaders later scrapped in December," notes the report. "Burger King has not filed a lawsuit to challenge the repeal. A spokeswoman declined to say Wednesday if it would launch or join one later." While the FCC's attack on net neutrality may be one of the least popular tech policy decisions in the history of the internet (even topping SOPA), it's particularly unpopular among Millennials--the restaurant's primary marketing target. And while it's clear that Burger King is trying to piggyback on public outrage over the FCC repeal for marketing purposes, if the ad actually helps folks understand why net neutrality rules protecting consumers from uncompetitive giant telecom duopolies are a good idea, it's surely a net benefit, right? »youtu.be/ltzy5vRmN8Q







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Most recommended from 39 comments

ISurfTooMuch

join:2007-04-23

Tuscaloosa, AL 26 recommendations ISurfTooMuch Member Pretty brilliant I don't know Burger King's exact motivations for making this, but, if they were going for viral marketing, they may just get it. And, if this video helps explain net neutrality to a significant number of folks who don't yet understand it, then I think Burger King getting some exposure out of it is a fair trade.



The thing is, how do you convert opinion into action? Sure, 80% of the public may disagree with this decision, but no one elected Pai and his compatriots to this job, so the only way he loses his job is if the Republicans dump him, and, even then, he's going to have multiple lobbying gigs waiting for him. So, in short, he doesn't really give a damn what the public thinks. So the only way this gets changed is by putting a net neutrality administration and Congress into place, and, even if a majority of the public support it, do they feel passionately enough about it to make it a voting consideration.

Red Hazard

Premium Member

join:2012-07-21

O Fallon, IL 17 recommendations Red Hazard Premium Member More It would be great if other retailers would jump on board and flood the media with similar commercials.

beck

MVM

join:2002-01-29

On The Road 12 recommendations beck MVM good for them I'm glad someone got out of the box. I really hope they play it all over. Could become a cult thing. Fiesty!

cpsycho

join:2008-06-03

Treadeu Land 2 recommendations cpsycho Member ... This is why I love Burger King