Burger King is believed to have given away thousands of free Whopper meals due to an app error that allowed customers to add extra burgers at no charge. The promotion, which ran periodically for years as part of a two for £12 Whopper meal deal, was exploited by users who discovered they could add any number of burgers without incurring additional costs.
The issue was brought to Burger King's attention by a customer named Paul Martin, who first attempted to notify the chain of the bug on October 30. Martin reported that he had tried contacting the company through usual channels but was ignored. Three days later, he posted on X (formerly Twitter) that he had managed to purchase 18 Whoppers, 18 portions of fries, and 18 drinks from a London branch for £26.54, a significant reduction from the usual price of £188.82.
Martin's post went viral, reaching over 1.6 million people and garnering nearly 5,000 likes. Burger King responded to his public complaint, stating they would investigate the issue with their team. Within three hours of Martin's social media post, the company removed the error from its app. Following the resolution, Martin stated he had complained multiple times via Burger King's website, email, and social media over the preceding week without a reply.
The incident sparked a range of reactions online, with users humorously commenting on the scale of free food obtained and questioning Martin's decision to report the glitch. The Daily Mail has approached Burger King for comment.