Burger King Makes People Wear Massive Crowns As Part of New Social Distancing Rule

Burger King is in full-on preparation mode, getting ready for the inevitable day when economies around the world begin to reopen in a post-coronavirus world. One of those preparations include the introduction of massive paper crowns, big enough that it forces customers in the restaurant to stay six feet apart – the new norm experts say is most effective in helping stamp out the further spread of COVID-19. Currently, Burger King is testing the paper crowns in Germany, a country where the chain has approximately 700 locations.

According to one Burger King spokesperson, the company is working on coming up with innovative ways for consumers to have a little fun in an otherwise bleak time. “We wanted to reinforce the rules of high safety and hygiene standards that the BK restaurants are following,” the spokesperson tells Business Insider. “The do-it-yourself social-distance crown was a fun and playful way to remind our guests to practice social distancing while they are enjoying food in the restaurants.”

The chain has since uploaded a picture of the massive crowns to their Twitter feed.

As it turns out, the crowns are just one of the ways the fast-food restaurant is working on promoting social distancing. In other markets – take Italy, for example – the chain has introduced a new menu item called the Social Distancing Whopper, a spin on the classic sandwich that includes three times the onions of a regular burger.

BK isn’t the only chain making big changes to how it does business. Earlier this month, McDonald’s announced it’d officially be ending the use of self-service soda fountain machines as dining rooms start to reopen. It’s expected that change will take place in all McDonald’s locations around the world.

“From the beginning of the crisis in February our safety and sanitation practices have been informed by guidance from both our own third-party contagious disease experts and the CDC,” McDonald’s said via press release. “Now, we’re evolving these health and safety guidelines further by implementing nationwide standards for restaurant operations across all 14,000 U.S. restaurants.”

As states begin to reopen their locations for dine-in service, it’s commonplace for the capacities to be reduced to 50-percent or under of normal operating capacity. The aforementioned changes are likely just the tip of the iceberg in the number of changes that will take place as health officials continue battling the spread of COVID-19.

Cover photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images