Get me a #@%*in' Whopper or I will eat your soul!

I’ve been known to enjoy one or two of these so-called “fast food” ham-burgers in my lifetime. I know they’re no good for me, and I don’t care. And sure, if something I order isn’t prepared correctly or just not available, I have gotten annoyed. That’s simply because I don’t suffer incompetence lightly.

But the level of betrayal exhibited by the people in Burger King’s new “Whopper Freakout” ad campaign is simultaneously amusing and disturbing. Some customers were confused and mildly upset (Emo kid at the 1:11 mark) by the loss of the Whopper, while some became wistful and nostalgic (goatee dude at 3:18). And when their precious Whopper is secretly replaced with Folgers Crys…ur, another burger, some customers became downright apoplectic (start at 5:30).

The campaign is supposed to prove that the Whopper is America’s favorite burger. Maybe, but you could probably get the same result in a McDonald’s by pulling the Big Mac. Of course, having Ronald McDonald emerge to give you a Big Mac is nightmare fuel, whereas getting served by The King is the coolest thing ever (oh, and that signed photo of The King at the 2:45 mark? My new life’s quest.).

I really hope most people’s priorities are not so out of whack that the loss of a fast food menu item would cause them so much pain (“World hunger? Iraq war? Meh. What, no Whopper?!?! Get the torches and pitchforks!!!!”). I also hope the people shown in the video are simply the most entertaining examples pulled from the day’s footage, and that most customers took the change in stride.

Somehow I doubt it.