Burger King is ringing in the holidays with a unique new way for consumers to get a free burger – by bringing in an unwanted Christmas gift.

The campaign is called Whopper Exchange. It is an attempt by Burger King to get more customers interacting with the brand by playing with the common purchasing procedure and turning it into a fun brand-oriented moment.

“At Burger King restaurants, we are always looking for ways to surprise our fans, no matter if they were good or naughty,” said Fernando Machado, senior vice president of global brand management for Burger King.

Whopper Exchange
Many brands have sought ways to get more customers to physically come into the store. Once a brand can get a customer in the store, completing a transaction is much easier.

Burger King is taking a unique approach to fulfilling this goal by playing with the standard protocol of a transaction and replacing one side of the common buying-selling interaction with an unorthodox stand-in.

Burger King’s newest campaign is called the Whopper Exchange. It works by allowing customers to bring in unwanted gifts and exchange them for a Burger King Whopper.

The fast food chain is banking on the fact that many people receive gifts that they do not want and do not have anything to do with it.

To remedy this, Burger King will take people’s unwanted gifts on the day after Christmas and give them a free whopper in exchange.

Those gifts will not go to waste, as Burger King will donate every gift to charity, ensuring that those gifts are put to good use somewhere.

The campaign also has a social aspect in the form of a Twitter and Instagram promotion. Since not everyone will be able to get to a Burger King store on December 26, the brand is offering a secret prize to the first 100 people to post an unwanted gift on their social media accounts with the hashtag #WhopperExchange

Holiday spirit
With this campaign, Burger King is trying to accomplish a couple of different things at once.

First, the brand is trying to give customers a realistic commercial incentive to physically come into the store and make a purchase, ideally through upselling and other tactics. This campaign is a perfect excuse for customers to come in.

Secondly, Burger King is raising its brand profile through a campaign that brings customers in to make purchases while also helping them contribute to a good cause by donating their gifts to charities.

Finally, Burger King is running a classic holiday campaign, tapping into the goodwill of the holiday season to attract consumers.

Burger King has also expanded some of its mobile efforts recently to include a partnership with Mastercard’s Masterpass system, a mobile payment system that also encourages consumers to come in and make purchases (see story).

“The Whopper Exchange will offer our guests the chance to get a flame-grilled gift in exchange for an unwanted one,” Mr. Machado said. “Because this holiday season, we want everyone to receive something they will love.”