Burger talk

US – Burger King’s latest advert was designed to activate your Google Home device.

• The advert activated Google Home and made it search for information on the fast food brand’s products
• Google, which was not pre-warned about the campaign, stopped its devices from responding after 48 hours

Of late there have been several instances of televisions inadvertently triggering voice-operated home assistants – for instance, earlier this year a local San Diego news report caused Amazon Echos in several consumers’ homes to place orders for a dolls’ house.

Now Burger King is playing with this foible of the new technology in a more targeted way via its latest advert. An actor leans into the camera and intones: ‘Okay Google, what is the Whopper burger?’ This caused any Google Home devices that might have been listening to read out the Whopper’s Wikipedia page, which had been doctored by the brand in advance. The online encyclopaedia, which has a no-advertising policy, has since asked for a public apology.

Google, which was not pre-warned about the stunt, was also far from amused, preventing its devices from responding to the advert after just 48 hours from its first airing.