Dump-friends-for-Whoppers application irks Facebook
Fri Jan 16, 3:58 PM
SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - Burger King said Friday that pressure from Facebook has caused it to yank an application that gave members of the hot social networking website a Whopper for every 10 friends they dumped.
Before the Whopper Sacrifice Campaign was halted, 233,906 friends were "sacrificed" by Facebook users more interested in relationships with the global fast-food chain's specialty hamburgers, according to Burger King.
"While Facebook was a great sport, they did ask for changes that would have resulted in a different approach to our application," a Burger King spokesperson said. "Ultimately, based on philosophical differences, we decided to conclude the campaign."
The Burger King application could be installed free by Facebook users, who were then rewarded with a Whopper for every 10 names they removed from their rosters of friends at the website.
Changes sought by Facebook reportedly included ditching an application feature that sent deleted friends messages informing them that an online pal preferred a hamburger over them.
"We encourage creativity from developers and companies using Facebook Platform, but we also must ensure that applications meet users' expectations," said a spokesperson for the social-networking service.
"After constructive conversations with Burger King and the developer of the application, they have decided to conclude their campaign rather than continue with the restrictions we placed on their application."
The Whopper campaign website on Thursday offered an "Angry-gram" service that people could use to send animated insulting burgers to "let someone know they annoy the hell outta you."
Angry-grams are meant as jokes and not to be used for harassment, Burger King notes on the website.
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