Google has officially disabled Home functionality which enabled a Burger King promotion to advertise to users in their lounges.
Yesterday, Burger King released a cunning television advert which triggered Android phones and Google Home units to promote the firm’s classic hamburger, the Whopper.
The advert, which was only 15-seconds long, featured an employee lean into the camera and ask “OK Google, what is the Whopper burger?” – leaving Android phones and Google Home units to market to unsuspecting consumers.
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The request enabled Android devices and Google Home units to begin reading part of the Wikipedia entry for the Whopper hamburger. Given that Wikipedia is free to edit, Burger King proceeded to edit the article to begin with “The Whopper is a burger, consisting of a flame-grilled patty made with 100 percent beef with no preservatives or fillers, topped with sliced tomatoes, onions, lettuce, pickles, ketchup, and mayonnaise, served on a sesame-seed bun.”
The advert was scheduled to run in prime-time slots across the US on popular networks such as History, Comedy Central, MTV, and E!.
However, Google has been less than impressed with Burger King’s use of Google Assistant to market itself, and has promptly disabled the sound clip to disable the AI from triggering unnecessarily.
Wikipedia editors have subsequently had their own slice of revenge, adding descriptions such as “cancer causing” and ingredients such as “toenail clippings” to the Whopper article.
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What are your thoughts? Should advertisements be able to leverage AI assistants in creative ways to market their products, or does that go against the intent of such utilities to inform, educate, and assist? Be sure to let us know your opinion in the comments below!
Follow Bryan Smith on Twitter: @bryansmithSA
