Burger King Partners with Robinhood for "Side of Crypto" Giveaway
Forget an order of fries, a handful of cheesy tots, or a stack of Impossible Nuggets: Burger King wants to give everyone a (digital) handful of Dogecoin with their next order. On Monday, the fast food giant announced its limited-time "Burger King with a Side of Crypto" offer, which allows Royal Perks members to claim a free cryptocoin every day.
According to the Burger King Crypto website, the chain has partnered with investment app Robinhood Crypto for the promotion. Between today and Sunday, November 21, Burger King will be giving away 2 million Dogecoin, 200 Ethereum, and 20 Bitcoin. As of this writing, one Dogecoin is worth $0.27 cents, one Ethereum is valued at $4,356, and a single Bitcoin clocks in at $61,807. (Burger King puts your odds of winning a Bitcoin at 1 in 100,011.)
Burger King x Robinhood
In order to claim a free cryptocoin, you must be a member of Burger King's Royal Perks loyalty program, and make at least a $5 pre-tax purchase either through the Burger King app or on BK.com using "My Code," which can be requested during checkout. After ordering, you'll receive an email with a prize code that can be used to claim your free cryptocurrency through the Robinhood app. All prizes must be claimed by Friday, December 17. (Yes, you're required to have a Robinhood Crypto account in order to claim your prize, but existing Robinhood Crypto customers don't have to create a second account.)
For in-store orders, you'll need to sign into your Royal Perks account, select the restaurant you're visiting, and click "My Code." After placing your order, you'll need to show the six-digit code to the cashier before paying. (Burger King also notes that not all Burger King restaurants participate in the in-restaurant Royal Perks program, but you can check online to see if your local fave is one of them.)
In a statement sent to USA Today, Maria Posada, Burger King North America's vice president of digital guest experiences, said that Burger King's partnership with Robinhood was a "natural fit," because the restaurant was "offering crypto in a way that's accessible and digestible (literally and figuratively) through our food."
This might be Burger King North America's first foray into cryptocurrency, but others around the world have previously experimented with them. In 2017, Burger King Russia supposedly produced its own cryptocurrency called — of course — Whoppercoin. The details around the Whoppercoin release were scarce, but basically customers could score a single Whoppercoin with the purchase of any real-life Whopper. Earlier that year, a single Burger King restaurant in Moscow accepted Bitcoin as payment for a meal purchase, a transaction that was reported as "the first official" use of Bitcoin in exchange for goods and services in Russia.
Some Burger King locations in the Netherlands also briefly accepted Bitcoin as payment, and one restaurant promised a free Whopper to any customers who paid with the cryptocurrency. That promo seems to have ended in 2018.
