Burger King’s response to a Kanye West tweet has become the most-liked branded tweet of all time. How did they make it happen?

When Kanye West tweeted “McDonald’s is my favorite restaurant,” Burger King UK’s social team saw the tweet as a golden opportunity. Author of the tweet, James Parker, says:

I jumped into a conversation about what Burger King could do and shortly came up with our response. In three minutes, we had a simple response ready.

I was rather confident it would do well given how concise and out of the blue a tweet like this must seem coming from the verified Burger King UK page, [but it’s] safe to say that none of us thought it would be the most liked branded tweet of all time. I spent the hours and days following watching the numbers, bumping the tweet or responding to people.

Burger King’s simple reply “Explains a lot” earned over a million likes and 270 thousand retweets.

The brand attributes the tweet’s success to active social listening and a speedy sign-off process. They also perfectly channeled that sassy, off-the-cuff tone that resonates with audiences. While it may not work for every brand, it often pays off to forgo cut-and-dried content for something more spontaneous.