Submitted by Coolr

Burger King UK Launches on TikTok

Content Creation

Coolr launched Burger King UK on TikTok and ran trend-led and influencer content across the channel, with more than 780k views across the first three videos.

12kTikTok followers
20kTikTok followers
810kTikTok views on most viewed video
500kTikTok views
1mTikTok views

Case in 60 seconds

Burger King UK was entering TikTok with no established channel, so the launch had to build an audience from nothing on a platform where brand accounts start without the reach their other social presences already carry.

The campaign appears to turn on trend participation working harder than brand publishing for a new account, because challenge formats such as #plank and #chicken fry are surfaced to people who do not follow the account yet.

Establish the channel through trend-based activity and uniquely Burger King moments rather than through brand-first content, then use known TikTok talent to push traffic toward the account at product-launch moments.

Coolr launched the account in January 2020 with three videos, ran trend-based activity including the #plank challenge and #chicken fry challenge, worked with six top TikTok talents for the Rebel Whopper launch, and later tasked influencers with wild conspiracy theories about the Whopper's taste for No Secrets, Just Fire across 7 pieces of influencer content.

Coolr reports more than 780k views across the first three videos and 12k followers in the first month, over 1m views and 400k engagements on the Rebel Whopper work, over 810k views on the brand's most viewed video in 2021 alongside growth past the 20k follower mark, and over 500k views for No Secrets, Just Fire.

Strategy Breakdown

The primary strategy-learning section — interpretation, not a press-release summary.

Based on the available evidence, the challenge was one of standing start rather than category competition, because a fast food brand arriving on TikTok in January 2020 had no channel equity to trade on and had to earn attention through formats the platform already rewarded.
The brand positioned itself as a participant in trends and later as the subject of speculation, since No Secrets, Just Fire handed the question of what gives the Whopper its taste to influencers rather than answering it in brand copy.
Based on the available evidence, the work assumes people engage with food brands on TikTok through play and argument rather than through product information, which is why challenge entries and conspiracy theories carried the campaign instead of menu messaging.

Creative & Execution System

Assets & channels

  • TikTok
  • influencer content
  • video

Partners

  • Coolr (lead_agency)

Participation mechanic

  • The audience took part through existing TikTok challenge formats, with the brand entering the #plank challenge and the #chicken fry challenge rather than originating a mechanic of its own.

Creator role

  • influencers
  • six top TikTok talents

Results & Evidence

MetricValueResult type
TikTok followersWe gained 12k followers in the first month.follower_growth
TikTok followersgrowing the channel past the 20k follower markfollower_growth
TikTok views on most viewed videotheir most viewed video on the platform with over 810k views and countingvideo_views
TikTok viewsThe campaign saw over 500k views across 7 pieces of influencer contentvideo_views
TikTok viewsWith over 1m views and 400k engagementsvideo_views
TikTok viewsattracting more than 780k views across the first three videosvideo_views

Why Coolr's strategy worked

  1. 1

    A brand account with no followers can still gather reach where its early posts sit inside existing challenge formats, because the platform distributes trend entries to people who have no relationship with the account.

  2. 2

    Product launches read as the moment to buy creator audiences rather than the moment to test them, since the six TikTok talents on Rebel Whopper were used to drive traffic to a channel that was only weeks old.

  3. 3

    Asking influencers for conspiracy theories about a product's taste appears to convert a brand claim into an argument the audience can join, which is why the comments filled with people craving a Whopper rather than responding to the brand directly.

  4. 4

    Sustained channel work compounds slowly against launch spikes, given that the most viewed video arrived in 2021 with over 810k views, roughly the level the first three videos reached together at launch.

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