Hungover? Burger King’s facial recognition tech has a deal for you

For those of us still reeling from indulging in a little too much eggnog, we know that hangovers include many things: dizziness, nausea, sensitivity to light…

What they usually don’t include, though, is a discount.

Burger King Brazil is making that right with its Hangover Whopper marketing campaign. The promotion is accessible through a microsite and the Burger King mobile app, per Marketing Dive:

• The site uses facial recognition tech to scan a customer’s face, detect their hangover level, and dole out a discount.
• There are three levels of hangovers, corresponding to a coupon for a Whopper Jr. Double, Whopper, or Whopper Double.
• Hangover selfies can also be shared on social media for all the world to see.

The campaign, created with creative agency DM9 to sync up with holiday hangovers, wrapped up yesterday.

Burger wars

The promotion isn’t the first time the chain has used technology to attract customers and unseat its competitors — McDonald’s, in particular — and it won’t be the last.

Burger King Brazil has unleashed some pretty memorable ad campaigns:

• In 2019, it launched an augmented reality mobile app that let users set fire to its competitors’ ads in return for a free Whopper.
• In 2023, it clapped back at a McDonald’s campaign with a ChatGPT-generated billboard of its own.

And the hangover stunt is likely just the first of many tech-powered campaigns we’ll see in 2024, with brands across industries already experimenting with AI.

There was Coke’s AI-generated Y3000 flavor, Sephora’s augmented reality makeup app feature, and Doritos’ AI-powered crunch-cancellation gaming software.

Speaking of artificial: may we never forget the sight of a Whopper covered in mold to announce Burger King’s removal of artificial ingredients.