New York Burger King Tricks Customers into Buying Beef Instead of Impossible Whoppers

A location of Burger King in Brooklyn, NY has been deceiving customers by selling beef burgers instead of plant-based Impossible Whoppers, according to media outlet Eater. Burger King added the Impossible Whopper to 59 locations in St. Louis, MO in April before announcing the nationwide expansion of the plant-based burger across its more than 7,200 locations—a move that has yet to bring the Impossible Whopper to the New York area. Despite the unavailability of the Impossible Whopper, the Brooklyn Burger King location advertised the meatless burger as one of its top-sellers on delivery platform Seamless. The location filled orders by using beef patties and wrapping them with messaging that suggested they were the Impossible Whopper. A manager at the Burger King location confirmed that beef burgers were sent instead of Impossible Whoppers and explained that drivers were instructed to inform customers of the change—which, according to a 36-year-old Brooklyn customer who chose not to be named, they failed to do. “I was incredulous,” the customer, whose order came with a receipt that read “Impossible Whopper,” said. “This is a city where there are a lot of reasons why people don’t eat [meat], from religion to health to ethics.” The customer discovered the practice when he visited the Brooklyn Burger King in person and was told that the Impossible Burger was not yet available. Other New York locations of Burger King did not include the Impossible Whopper on their Seamless delivery pages and the location in question—which has been serving beef in place of the plant-based patty since at least May 20—has since removed the burger, attributing the incident to a “technology error.” Currently, the Impossible Whopper is only available in St. Louis, MO, Miami, FL, Columbus, GA, and Montgomery, AL. “We apologize for any confusion this has caused,” a spokesperson for Burger King said. “Any guests who ordered an Impossible Whopper through delivery in the New York area and have any questions may call 1-866-394-2493.”