The Power of a Meaty Metaphor to Explain a Boring Concept

"Metaphors are much more tenacious than facts." -- Paul de Man

I love a good metaphor. The opening to my best-selling book Everybody Writes starts with a metaphor likening physical fitness to writing. (Start somewhere. Build muscle slowly. Much love to all “adult-onset” writers everywhere.)

Metaphors are an effective way to teach a concept. They aid comphrehension by likening the familiar to the unfamiliar. They make sense of things in a spare but powerful way.

Metaphors pack a lot of truth in tiny overhead bin space. (Another metaphor.)

Which is why a metaphor about the repeal of Net Neutrality from the unlikeliest of sources—Burger King—is so powerful.

I say “unlikely source." But, actually, it makes total sense when you think about it. A company whose product hinges on "fast" commenting on so-called fast and slow access lanes? It’s glorious.

Bad Branding, Meet Meaty Metaphor

“Net neutrality” suffers from terrible branding. The name is boring, techy, faceless. It sounds like something those of us overwhelmed by the constant barrage of bad news out of Washington can easily ignore.

In this post-truth climate, we tote around limited gallons of rage to pour onto social media: It’s exhausting to argue about everything, isn’t it?

Which means that in a comparison between, say, Russian-meddling-in-the-election and Net Neutrality, the Russian issue "wins" (fair elections, the right to vote, foreign interference in domestic affairs all seem more deserving of those gallons of outrage).

What's more, the concept of Net Neutrality is intangible: Consider the powerful image of a proposed border wall, for example. That’s a tangible restriction, whereas the restrictions that are the teeth of net neutrality feel… I can’t even think of a word to describe it. (That’s how much it lacks impact.)

The argument needs a good metaphor. 

Enter Burger King.

Here, Burger King uses its signature sandwich to raise awareness on the issue of Net Neutrality by asking a fundamental question of What if you had to pay more to get lunch faster? with the super-sized side of: How outraged would you be?

The bigger story, of course, is what repealing net neutrality could mean for all of us, everywhere.

Take a look:

Observe the faces of the people who are told they need to pay $26 for a Whopper.

Consider the ridiculousness of throttling back delivery times based on an arbitrary restriction.

Revel in the power of a meaty metaphor. "Net neutrality repealed: I sleep," one commenter commented. "Whopper neutrality repealed: eyes wide open."

And mull this over: If people get this pissed over lunch, can you imagine what might happen when more is at stake?

“The Whopper actually taught me about Net Neutrality,” one customer says, his face slightly contorted. “Stupid. But true.”