The Left-Handed Whopper Hoax: A Look Back at Burger King's April Fools' Prank

April 1st, 1998

Burger King launches an advertising campaign for their "Left-handed Whopper", targeting left-handed individuals.

Their full-page ad in USA Today states that the burger was designed to cater to the needs of the 32 million Americans who are left-handed (1.4 million of them are their daily customers). The company announced that initially, it would be available in the USA and later in other countries with significant left-handed populations.

The new burger would have the exact same ingredients, but  it would be rotated a full 180-degrees to ensure better grip on bun. Therefore, a left-handed person could enjoy their burger without the fear of ingredients slipping off, such as lettuce, from the right side.

The publicity for the new burger was impressive. There were even statements, in the full-page advertisement, from the purported
representative of the "Left-handers Club": "We are excited that Burger King acknowledges the difficulty of holding a burger with the left hand, while it has a rightward slant. We call on all left-handed burger lovers to visit the nearest Burger King and taste the difference."

According to the then CEO of Burger King, the next day, thousands of customers, forgetting that the previous day was April Fool's Day, visited some of the chain's stores to request the new burger. At the same time, many others were asking for the old burger, the one for right-handed people, at the cash register.