How BK Combined a Holiday, App and Brand to Create a Promotion

Plenty of companies are running Halloween ads this month. Burger King is taking the fun to a whole new level by playfully calling out their competitors and awarding participants of their newest promotion with free Whoppers.

Remember Pokemon Go? Well, this promotion is reminiscent of that game. Essentially, you use the BK app to visit abandon stores of their competitors, such as McDonalds and Wendys. When you get within 300 feet of the "spooky" locations, you are able to claim a coupon for a free burger on the BK app.

Entering the app, you find an invite with a festive dare to learn more about the promotion. If you didn't notice in the first image, you'll quickly recognize that all of the locations in play are recognizably still branded with their former golden arches or Wendys-red.

The fun doesn't stop if you can't visit one of their scary places. BK has introduced the "scare box" which is a frightening amount of food for only $5.

The nifty and massive downside of this promotion? The limited number of these geo-specific abandon stores. Yes, this only for folks in Texas, Alabama, Illinois and Rhode Island and Ohio. There are 5 locations in total.

The story behind these once-active scary places? According to BK, their competitor's dared not to flame-grill their burgers so their misfortune was inevitable. That's a pretty clever way to use a holiday to brand yourself and throw shade at fellow restaurants quality.

The app instructions are found below. Burger King takes the Halloween crown this year.