Burger King gets it right … but I still don’t want to eat there.

I’m not trying to be all high and mighty here, but I don’t eat fast food. Even if it didn’t give me searing stomach pains, everything about it just depresses me. The mindless trading of quality for quantity, the dull-eyed shuffle to the counter, the … oh, you know!

I could go on, and as a devotee of farmers’ markets and Trader Joe’s, I often do. But as much as I hate to admit it, Burger King’s new advertising campaign is pretty damn brilliant. And for once, it’s not targeted at children. (Another day, another soapbox.)

So what did they do? They infiltrated Facebook, the world’s largest social networking site, where you can sacrifice friendships for Whoppers. Literally, you burn images of your friends for a $3 coupon. 

Sound disturbing? It is. But it’s also tapping into the collective irritation of so many insincere “friend” requests. I know if I were eating Whoppers, there are at least a handful of people on my Facebook page I’d trade for one. And as Burger King knows, I’m not alone in this feeling. 

The Big Money‘s Chadwick Matlin breaks down how it’s done – and why it’s been so effective. Take a look.