In November 2022, Saint Champagne Bar & Lounge in Cape Town posted an 'URGENT NOTICE' on their Instagram account, pleading with patrons who have outstanding accounts to settle their debts, or fear being publicly exposed at 7pm that same night.
The post read:
"SAINT - URGENT NOTICE!
ATTENTION TO ALL CUSTOMERS OWING SAINT CHAMPAGNE BAR & LOUNGE
Please note that you only have 12 hours to pay your outstanding and overdue payment balances. Should you not pay your balance within the stipulated time ,we would have no choice but to make your identities public on social media with your outstanding amounts."
When the time came, the venue asked South Africa - and Africa as a whole - to help locate and notify the patrons owing the lounge, and audiences flocked to watch the drama unfold over social media. Saint's Instagram account blew up with community members, influencers and celebrities commenting and sharing their thoughts and their personal stories of the establishment.
The saga also went viral on Twitter.
Burger King® wanted in on the action.
After Saint Lounge went on to announce that they would be identifying and sharing stories of more indebted patrons at 7pm that Wednesday, followers were waiting in great anticipation for the new episode of this drama to unfold.
Grey Africa and Burger King® South Africa spotted an opportune time in which social media users would be refreshing their feeds for the latest bit of juicy gossip. The brand emulated the style of the original Saint post, and threatened to expose customers for not buying a Whopper® by sharing their most unflattering hangry faces.
Our post read:
"BURGER KING - URGENT NOTICE!
ATTENTION TO ALL CUSTOMERS CRAVING A BURGER KING® WHOPPER®
We urge you to get a Burger King® Whopper® immediately. Should you not get a Burger King® Whopper® ,we would have no choice but to make your identities public on social media with your hangry faces."
(we even got Saint's spacing error in the second sentence right)
Despite being posted without any paid media support, this tactical Burger King® content got great engagement and reached more people than we had originally hoped.
Despite having no paid media budget to promote this tactical post, our results show that the content resonated with our audience. We were especially pleased with the amount of shares this post got (across platforms), as amplification is the highest form of flattery.
