Burger King sacrifices Facebook app after dispute

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Burger King has decided to end its Whopper Sacrifice campaign, which asked Facebook users to remove 10 of their friends in order to earn a coupon for a free burger.

But not before 233,906 people were defriended, discovering that their friendships are worth less than one-tenth of a Whopper -- roughly 24 cents after tax. Ouch!

Facebook removed the Whopper Sacrifice application Wednesday because it violated the website’s policy of not notifying users when their virtual friendships have been severed, as originally reported by TechCrunch. The social network said it would allow the app to continue as long as Burger King removes the notification feature.

‘While Facebook was a great sport, they did ask for changes that would have resulted in a different approach to our application, counter to what we developed,’ a Burger King spokesperson said in an e-mail. ‘Ultimately, based on philosophical differences, we decided to conclude the campaign and chose to ‘sacrifice’ the application.’

The app was overwhelmingly well-received -- somewhat surprisingly, considering its mean-spirited nature.

It did spur one group in protest, but that only garnered a paltry five members. The Whopper Sacrifice Network group and, more recently, the Petition to Re-Enable Whopper Sacrifice have 975 and 96 members, respectively.

Now that Sacrifice is out, maybe some benevolent marketing team could slap together something a little more affable. New Buddy for a Big Mac app, perhaps? Are you lovin’ it?

-- Mark Milian