Burger King Has Surprisingly Strong Feelings About Net Neutrality

Back in 2018, we all heard about net neutrality, the seemingly obscure concept to describe policy that equally protects the speed of all internet content. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) under former president Donald Trump repealed regulations that preserved net neutrality, meaning internet providers like Comcast or Verizon could ostensibly slow down streaming speeds, for some content — for example, content that they did not create (via the Washington Post and Houston Public Media).

Weirdly enough, Burger King came out swinging against the repeal of net neutrality, putting together their own campaign to demonstrate what the policy changes could mean. In a video called "Whopper Neutrality," which garnered almost 5 million views, the fast food giant plays a little game with their customers. Burger King employees tell confused customers ordering Whoppers that if they pay more than $20 for their burger as part of a faster "MBPS" plan ("Making Burgers Per Second"), they can get it at the speed to which they are accustomed. For the normal cost of a Whopper, however, they will have to wait. But how did customers react to this campaign?

Customers were understandably outraged by Burger King's "Whopper Neutrality" campaign, with some even going as far as to snatch their burger out of employees' hands and run, thereby helping Burger King make its point. They even directed viewers to a Change.org site where they could sign a petition against the repeal of net neutrality. Whether or not you believe fast food companies should weigh in on politics, people certainly understood. As one commenter on the video put it, "How to make Americans listen...take away their burgers."

Almost exactly three years later, supporters of net neutrality are optimistic that the FCC under President Joe Biden's administration will put protections for net neutrality back in place (via the Washington Post). Ajit Pai, Donald Trump's FCC chairman, has (unsurprisingly) defended the repeal he helped make happen, saying that none of the fears about slow internet speeds had come true in three years (via CNBC). Some, like Georgetown's Free Speech Project, disagree, saying that almost every internet service provider has taken to throttling internet speeds, especially for users with cheaper plans, since the repeal. BK, when can we expect the viral follow-up video?