Wikipedia Is the Next Internet Giant to Be Mad at Burger King

Last week, Burger King unleashed an ad that angered the collective internet — and one of the internet’s biggest names — by designing a commercial that would intentionally trigger viewers’ Google Home devices, directing them to the Wikipedia page for the Whopper sandwich. Google responded swiftly by amending Home to no longer respond to the ad’s prompt: “What is the Whopper burger?” And now, it looks like Google wasn’t the only one angered by the experiment.

Wikipedia has now posted an open letter to Burger King, accusing the brand of editing its Wiki page to include “advertising, marketing, or promotional material,” which is against the website’s rules. The letter continues: “Our terms of use require all paid editors to prominently post the fact that they are paid, the person or company paying them, and any other relevant affiliations,” a possible reference to an update by a user called Fermachado123 (a name that closely mirrors that of Fernando Machado, BK’s head of brand marketing).

Wikipedia also had some choice words for Eater’s sister site the Verge, which in its reporting of the stunt, inserted incorrect information on the Burger King Wiki to see if Google Home would read the wrong information. (It did.) Wikipedia is asking for an apology to its “editors and readers” from all involved.

• Wikipedia: Conflict of Interest/Noticeboard open letter [Wikipedia]
• Google Was Not Okay With That Burger King Ad [E]
• Burger King’s New Ad Forces Google to Recognize the Whopper [The Verge]