Earlier this week, several social media influencers, including popular YouTuber Casey Neistat, were shocked and confused after noticing that the Burger King Twitter account had been scrolling through and favoriting their old tweets, dating back to 2009 and 2010. Neistat, who currently has over 10 million subscribers on the video sharing platform — and almost 2 million followers — on Twitter, became curious and tweeted about Burger King’s seemingly strange move, which turned out to be exactly what the company wanted, according to a report from Complex .
Apparently, liking the old tweets of popular Twitter users was a marketing strategy used to bring attention to Burger King’s returning Funnel Cake Fries, which were first introduced by the restaurant in 2009. Upon realizing the burger giant had used him to promote its product, Neistat made a YouTube video expressing his faux anger at being “manipulated.”
“I don’t like to be taken advantage of,” he said. “I don’t appreciate being manipulated. I especially don’t like to be made a sucker. But that’s exactly what Burger King…did to me.”
Neistat’s video was a hilarious clap back at the company, and he ended the video with one simple request. The YouTuber asked the company to consider making a charitable donation in exchange for the free promotion received. Burger King was quick to respond to the request and of course, Neistat took to YouTube again to provide an update on the happenings.
In his most recent video, Neistat explained that he was contacted by the company’s chief marketing officer (CMO), and the two came to an amazing resolve. The YouTuber revealed that Burger King would be making donations of $25,000 to two of his favorite charities — the Boys & Girls Clubs of America and the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Burger King also offered 5,000 free meals to Neistat’s fan via a website called “BK Makes It Right,” which Neistat described as a “super nice gesture.” The website’s offer expired within an hour of the video’s posting and visitors were greeted with the following message.
“We have reached our limit for this giveaway. We hope this returns the level of balance to the social media universe. Thank you Casey and subscribers.”
Neistat made it clear that he had no expectations after making his initial video, and that he has received no compensation from the company. He also noted how grateful he was that Burger King understood he meant no harm with his video and that he’s appreciative of the gestures made.
