| Story | It’s not just the coronavirus that worries people around the world. Many companies have had to reduce wages in line with the global economic downturn. Recent surveys show that eight out of 10 companies have implemented temporary salary cuts, forcing many people to rethink their daily spending. The pandemic has also changed people’s routines. They’ve stopped going to bars and restaurants, leading to a surge in the use of delivery services. In Latin America alone, the use of delivery apps has grown by more than a year-on-year 94% in recent months. With this in mind, Burger King UAE is launching Pay Cut Whopper, an app that makes it easier to order meals and also helps people who have been affected financially by the crisis. Created by Wunderman Thompson Dubai, with animation by the Brazilian production company Asteroide, the campaign promotes the BK app and its discounts that match customers’ salary reductions by up to 30%. The brand allows customers to not only add the amount of their discount, but also for how long, and makes it possible for them to customize this based on their word. This means that people could end up choosing the maximum percentage and duration of the discount even if it’s more than their actual pay cut. Nevertheless, BK saw this as an opportunity to transform the typical model of downloading apps and promo codes into a new tool to support people in financial difficulties. Pablo Maldonado, executive creative director of WT Dubai, said, "The goal was to be innovative and empathetic at the same time." Giuliano Biondi, Asteroide's scene director who was in charge of the campaign's promotional films, said he enjoyed working on the project even though it was done remotely. “Everything went very well, both the result and the process, which was really fun. The teams were very competent, and BK is an uplifting brand I've always wanted to work with.” The main aim of the film is to explain how the app works. “We felt compelled to infuse as much language as possible on everything that’s not about the app. Who is this character? Where are we? How does she feel? These are the questions we tried to answer with a kitten, a pair of sweatpants, a picture of her boyfriend, the city skyline, an Arab-Balkan soundtrack. Each detail that makes up the scene helps to tell a story, no matter how small, to enrich the film and create a connection,” said Giuliano. |