How Burger King Turned Traffic Jams into Money Makers
How Burger King's Traffic Jam Whopper delivered burgers to drivers stuck in Mexico City traffic: how it worked, the reported results, and what any business can learn from it.
By Suren, Founder & Growth Strategist at Gufy · Published · Last updated
In 2019, Burger King began delivering Whoppers to drivers stuck in Mexico City traffic. It took the worst part of its customers' day, hours of sitting in a queue of cars, and turned it into a reason to order. The campaign was called the Traffic Jam Whopper.
Here is how it worked, what it achieved and what any business can take from it.
The problem: hours lost in traffic
Mexico City has some of the heaviest traffic in the world. Drivers can spend hours a day in slow-moving queues.
For a fast-food chain, those drivers were lost customers. They were hungry, they had time, and they could not leave the road to reach a restaurant. The usual answer, a drive-through, was no help to someone who could not move.
The idea: bring the restaurant to the car
Instead of waiting for drivers to arrive, Burger King went to them. A driver stuck in traffic could order through the Burger King app and have the food brought to the car window by motorcycle, while still in the queue.
How it worked
The service joined several existing technologies.
- Live traffic data. The system watched for heavy congestion on roads close to a Burger King restaurant.
- Targeted advertising. Drivers in those queues saw adverts on digital roadside billboards and inside the Waze navigation app. The billboards showed how long they were likely to be stuck and that there was time for a delivery.
- Voice ordering. Drivers ordered through the app by voice, so they did not need to handle their phones.
- Location tracking. The app shared the car's position so the courier could find it in moving traffic.
- Motorcycle delivery. Couriers on motorcycles could pass between lanes and reach cars quickly.
- A short menu. Orders were limited to Whopper meals, to keep preparation fast.
None of these parts was new. The idea was in putting them together around one specific moment.
The reported results
Burger King and its agency, We Believers, reported:
- Delivery orders up 63% at participating restaurants
- Daily downloads of the Burger King app up 44 times, making it the most downloaded fast-food app in Mexico at the time
A published case study also reported that most orders reached drivers within about 15 minutes.
These figures come from the brand and its agency, and accounts differ on whether the 63% covers the first week or the first month. At the time, trade press noted that it was too early to say whether delivering to cars in traffic could become a lasting source of revenue. The campaign won awards at the Cannes Lions festival in 2019, and Burger King spoke of taking the idea to other congested cities.
Why it worked
It started from a real frustration
The campaign did not invent a need. Everyone in Mexico City already hated the traffic. Burger King attached itself to a feeling people had every day.
It reached people at the exact moment
The adverts appeared only to people in a jam, near a restaurant, with time to spare. That is very different from showing an advert to everyone and hoping some are hungry.
It removed the barrier
The reason drivers were not buying was that they could not reach the restaurant. The campaign did not try to persuade them harder. It removed the obstacle.
It was worth talking about
A burger delivered through a car window in a traffic jam is a story. The attention it earned went far beyond what the advertising cost, and the jump in app downloads meant Burger King could reach those customers again later.
What any business can learn
1. Look for the moment, not just the customer
Ask when your customers most need what you sell and cannot easily get it. That moment is often more valuable than any description of who they are.
2. Turn a complaint into an offer
The things your customers complain about, even those that have nothing to do with you, can be the start of an idea.
3. Combine what already exists
Burger King did not build new technology. It joined traffic data, an app, billboards and couriers. Most useful ideas are new combinations.
4. Keep the first version narrow
One city, restaurants near congested roads, one type of meal. A small, focused test showed whether the idea worked before any wider investment.
5. Use a campaign to earn a lasting channel
The lasting value was not the burgers sold that month. It was the customers who now had the app. When you run a campaign, think about what you will still have when it ends.
6. Be honest about what a stunt proves
A campaign that wins attention is not the same as a profitable service. Measure both, and be clear with yourself about which one you have.
For more campaign breakdowns, see How Nike Stole the Spotlight from Adidas at the Olympics and How Coca-Cola's Share a Coke Campaign Redefined Marketing.
For the competitor's side, see the McDonald's case study.
Common questions
What was the Burger King Traffic Jam Whopper?
A 2019 campaign in Mexico City in which drivers stuck in heavy traffic could order a Whopper meal through the Burger King app and have it delivered to their car by motorcycle. It used live traffic data to find congested roads near restaurants and to target drivers on them.
How did the Traffic Jam Whopper work?
Live traffic data showed where congestion was building near a Burger King. Drivers there saw adverts on digital billboards and in the Waze navigation app. They ordered by voice in the Burger King app, and a motorcycle courier used the car's location to deliver the food while it was still in the queue.
What were the results of the Traffic Jam Whopper?
Burger King and its agency reported that delivery orders rose by 63% at participating restaurants and that daily downloads of the app rose 44 times. A case study also reported that most orders reached drivers within about 15 minutes. These are the brand's own figures.
Who created the Traffic Jam Whopper campaign?
The agency We Believers created it for Burger King in Mexico. It won awards at the Cannes Lions festival in 2019.
Conclusion
The Traffic Jam Whopper worked because it looked at a daily frustration and asked how to be useful inside it. The technology mattered less than the observation that hungry people with time on their hands were sitting a few hundred metres from a restaurant they could not reach.