At Burger King in La Defense, the Paris business district, in-the-know users can get a "personal queuer" to wait in long lines for a Whopper.
We'll preface by saying the French are bananas about Burger King, which became a sleeper hit after leaving the French market in 1997, ceding to the dominance of competitors like McDonald's and Quick. When the brand finally returned nearly 20 years later, hundreds of customers waited in line, sometimes for hours, to taste what they've been missing. The company now serves an average of 2,000 customers per day across about 21 restaurants in the country.
The Personal Queuer ad, brought to you by Buzzman, features a moody mass of people waiting in theme-park-caliber lines. Meanwhile, a guy reclines on a lounge chair in the sun, waiting in style while his Personal Queuer holds the fort for him. He returns to the line when his proxy nears the front.
All things considered, the work garners provocative attention in the same way Crispin Porter + Bogusky's Whopper Sacrifice rended Facebook friendships asunder for a taste of sweet, sweet meat. But its approach also opens a Pandora's box of mysteries. Where is this idyllic grassy knoll? Do you have to bring your own lounge chair? There is no sun; why is that man wearing sunglasses?
Finally, isn't it vaguely medieval to Uber your wait in a world where smartphones transform queues into catch-up opportunities and touch-screen cashiers—of which La Defense's franchise has 12, double the normal amount—make queueing almost quaint?
Given that this isn't exactly Roswell-level conspiracy, and #PizzaRat is way more fun to think about, we may never know.
