If you saw someone being bullied, would you say something? That was the premise of an effective anti-bullying experiment conducted by Burger King in honour of National Bullying Prevention Month.

Burger King wanted to highlight the importance of speaking out against such behaviour. In this anti-bullying experiment, they hide cameras and hired four teenage actors; three of them to bully the fourth. In full view of real customers, they taunt him, push him out of his chair, pour pop on his food. Meanwhile, their “employees” serve mashed-up burgers to those same customers.

According to NoBully.org, “30% of school kids worldwide are bullied each year and bullying is the #1 act of violence against young people in America today.”

“We bullied a High School Jr. and a Whopper Jr. to see which one received more complaints.” As ridiculousness as the notion seems, the initiative—titled Bullying Jr.—discovered how many people, in reality, stood up against such damaging behaviour. The result of the anti-bullying experiment had 95% of the customers complain about their “bullied” Whopper Jr., but only 12% standing up for the kid being bullied.

As manipulative as this public service announcement is, it’s also extremely effective. It shows us that most of the time, we don’t need to confront anyone to stop a wrong. The simple act of standing with the person who’s being wronged is all it takes.

You can watch the three-minute video below, created by the Miami office of David, the agency partner for Burger King.

Bullying Jr.: Anti-bullying PSA

One young interviewee shares an honest, and sadly, common sentiment at the beginning of the video:

“It’s just easier to do nothing.” 

https://youtu.be/mnKPEsbTo9s