Burger King Is Celebrating Spooky Season With An In-App Ghost Detector

You know what they say: If it's a holiday on the calendar, then companies going to cash in on it. Whether it's celebrating Christmas, St. Patrick's Day, or Valentine's Day, fast food companies are eager to put their own spin on the holiday to stand out from the crowd — and good old Burger King is no exception.

Unlike its rival McDonald's, which is offering retro-themed Halloween bucket Happy Meals for the Halloween season, Burger King has always relied on its menu items to scare customers into coming in. You may recall that, back in 2015, the company offered a "spooky" Whopper that was topped with an all-black bun infused with A1 steak sauce (via Foodbeast). You may also recall that said black Whopper was said to have an incredibly disgusting side-effect. Undeterred by vile reports, Burger King went on to release more Halloween-themed burgers in the following years, such as one with a white cheddar-flavored bun in 2019 (via FOX News) and most recently the Ghost Pepper Whopper, which features everything from jalapeños, ghost pepper cheese, and a spicy orange bun. If you're a health nut, you'll certainly find these burgers pretty scary. For some, it's more or less a novelty experience that they would eat just to say that ate it.

But we're not here to talk about burgers. We're here to talk about ghosts and Burger King wants to let you know about the very real fact that they are currently inside your home — maybe.

If there's something weird and it don't look good, who you gonna call? Well, it better be Burger King.

According to Food & Wine, Burger King is not only releasing its Ghost Pepper Whopper but also a special "ghost detector" available through its app. Avaliable to Burger King Royal Perk members, the app uses the frequency of electromagnetic waves to detect the presence of unknown specters that are lurking in your home — or, at least, that's what it says on paper. It may be a surprise to some, but the fast food company's ghost detector may not detect poltergeists as much as it detects if you're feeling hungry for some BK.

As the "Home of the Ghosts" advertisement explains, the ghost detector's real purpose is to offer Royal Perk members a special deal on two Ghost Pepper Whopper meals, perfect for sharing some fiery Halloween lunch with a friend.  The ghost detector is merely some fun set dressing to promote Burger King's newest, scariest, and hottest hamburger to date, instead of helping amateur Ghostbusters fight off any invisible mischief-makers.

The use of the mobile app to promote free Halloween deals isn't exactly anything new, considering Wendy's is launching similar spooky deals on its app (via Chew Boom) similar to Burger King's Halloween promotion. But hey, if your house does turn out to be the next Amityville, at least you can hang out at your local Burger King until it settles down.