Watch CBS News

Burger King Releases Powerful Anti-Bullying PSA

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Burger King is taking on bullying in a new viral public service announcement.

The video, called 'Bullying Jr.', was published last Tuesday and quickly gained national attention. In the three-minute clip, the fast food chain uses a social experiment to demonstrate how people often refuse to intervene when they witness someone getting bullied.

"It's been hard for me to stand up for other people because I feel like I'm already a target," one kid explains. "It's just easier to do nothing," adds another.

As the video goes on, you see a kid repeatedly being picked on while eating at the restaurant. While some customers, who are real, look on and seem visibly concerned, very few actually speak up.

Here comes the experiment: "We bullied a High School Jr. and a Whopper Jr. to see which one received more complaints," text on the video reads.

When customers received their battered burger, smashed by a Burger King employee, they march straight up to the counter to inquire and, often, complain.

"Did you order it bullied or un-bullied?" an employee asks. "Had you seen me bullying this burger, would you have stood up and said something?" One customer responds, "Yeah."

The results say 95 percent of customers groaned about the 'bullied' Whopper Jr., while only 12 percent stood up and said something about the high school student getting picked on.

Text on the video indicates that 30 percent of students worldwide are bullied each year.

"No Jr. deserves to be bullied," the clip concludes.

The video's release coincides with October's National Bullying Prevention Month.

Check out the full video above.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.