Burger King uses generative AI to create fans’ weird Whoppers

Burger King is taking ideas from fans for how to top a Whopper and using AI to visualize their dream recipes. The campaign, which includes a $1 million prize, asks fans to build their burger on a microsite, with the option to add between three and eight toppings. Each topping is submitted as a text prompt, and fans are encouraged to be weird about it. Once completed, an AI companion named “Grilliam” will generate a downloadable image of the creation. A 30-second commercial promotes the campaign: Ad Age tested the platform by creating a Whopper made up of a beef patty, lettuce, pancake, popcorn, falafel, gummy worms and blueberry jam. And while the AI did not perfectly illustrate this creation—no falafel, surprise raspberries, gummy worms were sludge and the pancake was golden and made of corn—it did produce a high-quality image of something that has certainly never before been seen. This could prove helpful in galvanizing fans to share their burgers on social media. To further entice fans, Burger King has tied the campaign to a contest to win $1 million. In “The Million Dollar Whopper Contest,” three finalists will be selected and flown to Burger King headquarters, where they can adjust their recipes before those creations appear on menus around the country for a limited time. Finally, one of the finalists will be awarded the $1 million prize. A couple more AI gifts await those who enter the contest. Upon submission, “Grilliam” will produce a jingle personalized to the wacky Whopper, as well as a thematic background that will support the image of the burger. AI marketing blog How brands are using ChatGPT, DALL-E 2 and other tools Read more here “The Million Dollar Whopper Contest” is the latest brand campaign to use AI to generate strange creations for consumers to share on social media. Last month, Avocados From Mexico unveiled an AI-powered generator for guacamole recipes, which also encouraged visitors to think outside the box (Ad Age created perhaps the first-ever peanut butter guac). And Intuit previously offered AI-generated selfies tied to an individual’s “financial aura.” As with Intuit’s effort, Burger King’s is also a first-party data play. Fans will need to log in to the chain’s loyalty program, Royal Perks, in order to enter the $1 million contest, or create an account if they don’t have one. “Grilliam” has the potential to become a PR nightmare given the freedom that consumers have to deface the Whopper, but guardrails have been established to prevent any unsavory creations. Visitors to the microsite must first agree that their customizations are edible ingredients. And even still, Grilliam might reject some ideas; Ad Age was prevented from adding peanut butter to its burger. “The Million Dollar Whopper Contest” was developed with Media.Monks, and the AI platform used to generate the images is Stable Diffusion, a person familiar with the situation told Ad Age. The effort follows Burger King’s AI-themed campaign in France last Halloween, which showed all the creepy ways that AI-generated people eat fast food.

Burger King uses generative AI to create fans’ weird Whoppers

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