Burger King's Big Email Mistake That Left The Internet Confused

Burger King has never been opposed to using unique marketing gimmicks, like a temporary app trick that allowed customers to order Whoppers from McDonald's and even a plant-based nugget ad campaign that was intentionally confusing. It turns out that sending emails to thousands of people in the early hours of the morning, though, might not have been among the restaurant chain's intentional publicity plans.

According to web hosting solutions company Bluehost, employing emails to raise awareness about products and services can be effective for businesses. In fact, companies utilizing the strategy experienced 20% higher daily average revenue, per a study by Smart Insights. Further, Matchbox Design Group agrees that emails are a good way to go for marketing, as it says nearly all adults use email daily and spend hours reading new messages in their inboxes. Burger King is by no means a stranger to constantly promoting its menu online, whether via email or other means. However, a recent email from the company that might have been unintentional has Burger King back in the news for its marketing moves, leaving those who received it pretty confused.

The Verge was the first on the story early Tuesday, August 9. Apparently, Burger King sent out emails to thousands of accounts in both the U.K. and U.S., thanking them for their orders with blank receipts attached, around midnight Eastern Time.

The catch was that the recipients of the emails say they did not order anything from Burger King. In fact, as Insider reports, some of the recipients maintain that they have never in their lives placed an order from Burger King. For that reason, they are wondering how the brand got their email addresses. So far, there have been no official answers to any of people's questions from the fast food chain. As anyone would expect when a potential mistake occurs on this level, people shared their thoughts on social media on Tuesday morning.

One Twitter user asked, "Hey @BurgerKing What's up with the emailed receipts I got from you last night? I didn't order anything. Did you get hacked? Is my personal information safe?" Another tweet intentionally left spaces in its sentences to represent the blank receipt, saying, "Thanks for the @BurgerKing The was delicious! Great discount of too!" One of the most creative tweets read, "I knew I had trouble sleeping, but was not aware that I placed Burger King orders at 4 a.m."

So far, Burger King has only said that it's "investigating" the incident "internally." In the meantime, the company has gotten some free, if inadvertent, advertising.