What happens when a fast-food giant decides Earth just isn’t enough?

In this Money2Byrne Pocket Change episode, we blast off into the story of Burger King’s bizarre cosmic marketing stunt when the brand claimed to have opened the first restaurant on Mars… kind of. 🚀

You’ll hear how a cheeky ad campaign, a bit of PR magic, and a lot of flame-grilled confidence helped Burger King get everyone talking without ever leaving Earth’s atmosphere.

It’s a funny reminder that sometimes, you don’t need to actually go to space to make your brand feel out of this world. 🌍🔥

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💡 What You’ll Learn / Takeaway

• How brands use outrageous claims to grab headlines.

• Why humour in marketing always travels further than the truth.

• And how to pull off a PR stunt so wild, it’s almost believable.

In 2017, a freelance writer in London pulled off one of the funniest marketing stunts in history.

Armed with a burner phone, a website, and a backyard shed, Oobah Butler created a fake restaurant called The Shed at Dulwich.

He never served a single meal.

But with a handful of glowing fake reviews, he managed to climb the TripAdvisor charts all the way to #1 restaurant in London.

Soon, real people were begging for reservations, food critics wanted interviews, and even TripAdvisor themselves congratulated him.

When he finally opened for one night only, guests were served instant noodles, frozen meals… and a big helping of confusion.

In this episode of Money2Byrne: Pocket Change, David Byrne dives into how one man’s prank became a global phenomenon and what it says about the power of hype, storytelling, and human gullibility.

🥇 Fake reviews. Real success.

🎙️ The lighter side of business only on Money2Byrne.

In a world where everyone’s hustling for side gigs, one man in Japan found the ultimate job, doing absolutely nothing. 🪑

Meet Shoji Morimoto, Tokyo’s “Do Nothing Guy.”

He gets paid just to exist. No small talk. No advice. No effort.

People hire him to sit beside them at lunch, walk quietly next to them, or just stand in silence so they don’t feel alone.

From awkward dinners to emotional divorces, Shoji’s clients come for company, not conversation.

He’s turned doing nothing into a full-time business, written a best-selling book, and even starred in a documentary.

In this episode of Money2Byrne: Pocket Change, David Byrne explores how one man made “nothing” into something, and why maybe just maybe we’re all trying too hard.

🪑 Doing nothing.

💸 Getting paid.

🎙️ The lighter side of business only on Money2Byrne.