New Burger King ad pokes fun at Joker movie’s stair dancing scene

So arguably the best vacation I ever took happened in 2005 when my mother, uncle, and I took a trip to Ireland. We visited fourteen counties in six days and had a blast. However, something happened at a tourist attraction that I'll never forget. We took a tour of a replica house used in a famous Irish film whose name escapes me at the moment. Upstairs there was a full size bust of a king sitting on a throne. I swear by all of Batman's Rogues Gallery that it was the spitting image of the King from Burger King. It disturbed the Hell out of me and this next bit of news might do the same.

Despite the media's insistence that Todd Phillips' JOKER was a dangerous film that would lead to mass violence, the movie instead inspired people to dance on stairs. Fans flocked to the now infamous stairs located in the Highbridge neighborhood of the Bronx. There they recreated the famous scene where Joaquin Phoenix's Joker celebrates his new identity by dancing to Gary Glitter's "Rock and Roll Part 2." Although it's great to see fans bond over a film in such a positive way, residents of the area haven't exactly embraced the trend. Apparently Burger King recognizes this fact and recently released the following ad, a commercial that isn't at all subtle about its connection to JOKER:

Never let it be said that Burger King can't take advantage of a popular trend to sell delicious meat patties. At least people who are annoyed with tourists dancing on stairs can get a free Whopper out of the deal if they live in the Bronx and have a smart phone. What's interesting to me is that this offer could potentially cost Burger King almost $8 million when you factor in the current population of the Bronx (1.47 million people) and the current cost of a Whopper ($5.29). Now granted the chances that all of the residents have smart phones and like Burger King is probably zero, but it's still a gamble.

Fast food chains aside, it's been quite the last week for JOKER. Joaquin Phoenix won the Golden Globe for Best Actor – Drama and Hildur Guonadottir won for Best Score. Additionally, the film just released on DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K yesterday. There's probably little doubt a shower of Oscar nominations is about to rain down on the film next Monday as well. That's a ton JOKER goodness to drool over. Anyone got a Whopper?