So far it seems like a pretty sensible move, right? The company gets to truly target its Facebook marketing at actual fans of its brand, it gets to dump the trolls from its page and it gets to beat down the competition by handing out its produce off-handedly - as if it has no worth. BK Norway itself says that its new fan base of 8,000 are more engaged and interact with the brand in a more positive way, meaning the brand has a much more targeted Facebook presence.

But - and it's a big 'but' - is the move genuinely providing 8,000 targeted Facebook followers? Or, is it providing about 4,000 active fans and 4,000 people who didn't check the page during the course of the campaign, that were too apathetic to respond or that simply thought it was a bit of a crass move, but equally couldn't actually rile themselves to unfollow afterwards either?

We have to also look at the idea that this move was getting rid of the trolls. What's to stop them starting up new accounts and beginning the trolling again now that they've chowed down on their Big Macs courtesy of BK? Beyond that, is BK so averse to any negative feedback that it would simply rather get rid of anybody who espouses pessimistic claims about it than deal with these individuals by responding to them and opening up dialogue? What kind of message does this send out?

Beyond this - and this is a biggie! - BK Norway had 38,000 likes on Facebook before the move. It now has 8,000. How many of that 30,000 were people who like BK, but saw a chance to get a free Big Mac - something they probably also like - and simply took it? My guess is quite a few. In this scenario, all Burger King has done is give these people a freebie and lost their attention on Facebook and, as a result, any chance to influence them through the social networking site.

Burger King Norway obviously believes in, and strives to attain, binding and lasting brand loyalty with consumers. This is perfectly acceptable, but, quite frankly, something that very few brands can attain these days - especially through the masked world of Facebook. It's the game of capitalism. Consumers will try to get as much as they can for giving as little - be that monetary, in terms of commitment or whatever. 

Burger King has lost, with this campaign, potentially 15,000 or so consumers it could market to effectively on Facebook (my rough guesses are, as you can tell, always split 50/50) while also supplying them with the competition's product for free. All it has gained is 4,000 active fans that were already there. So nothing then.

By Luke Cloherty, Cream Global