Burger King UK hands over Instagram account to local restaurants

Open to small businesses across the UK the offer will provide eateries with free social media advertising until they can reopen, providing a much-needed source of traffic at a time when many parts of the country are still in the grips of lockdown.

Explaining its act of generosity Burger King posted a tweet to its patrons saying "They need you more than ever!', before exhorting everyone not to forget their local restaurant the next time hunger pangs.

They need you more than ever! pic.twitter.com/Nol9sbjK0b

— Burger King (@BurgerKingUK) December 14, 2020

Not everyone was sated by the selfless approach however with freelance creative director Nathalie Gordon, tweeting her misgivings.

I really like this, which means I’m going to hate it beyond words when I see it pop up on awards juries. https://t.co/3wBd4rkBe0

— Nathalie Gordon (@awlilnatty) December 15, 2020

Such sentiments were shared by marketer Jerry Daykin, who couldn't help but note that an Instagram post to an audience of 30K without any location details was unlikely to rescue the stricken restaurant industry.

I hate to always be a downer but whilst I think it’s definitely true that local restaurants need support... I’m not sure a feature on a 30k follower national Instagram account’s stories, without any location noted, is the answer. Commit your advertising media budget for a month? https://t.co/WZfGbYKRAO

— Jerry Daykin (@jdaykin) December 15, 2020

Burger King is no stranger to crossing the fast food divide, having previously called an informal truce by inviting Whopper fans to give their rivals at McDonald's and Pizza Hut a go at supporting the industry as a whole.

That gesture was widely praised for raising awareness of the difficulties faced by all food outlets by upending expectations.