Video: Only 12% of people stand up for bullied kid

MIAMI (FOX 13) - October is National Bullying Prevention Month so Burger King decided to highlight how the phenomenon can affect young children - and what adults can do about it. 

The video has the potential to make viewers think, laugh, and cry all in the span of about three minutes. 

According to data from NoBully.org, 30 percent of young people are bullied every year and it's the No. 1 act of violence against young people. 

Burger King says its video shows a social experiment conducted in one of its restaurants. 

A teen and some classmates are eating at a high-top table when one begins to bully another. The teens are actually actors and make their actions clear to diners around them. 

At one point, one of the boys - in dramatic fashion - dumps his drink onto the other boy's food. 

Diners look on, but most do not speak - until their food comes. 

As the bullying happens in the dining area, a bully of a different kind is in the kitchen, punching the Whopper Jr. ordered by customers. Also an actor, the cook makes sure each Whopper Jr. is visibly beaten up before serving it to customers. 

Those customers approach the counter one-by-one to complain about the condition of their food. 

A manager approaches and asks the cook if he bulled the Whopper Jr., explaining to the customers "we don't mean anything by it," and "it's just for laughs." 

Being bullied? Get help here: https://nobully.org/about-bullying/no-one-deserves-be-bullied

These are phrases one might typically associate with excuses for bullying, but the customers - who watched the teen boy being bullied just minutes before - did not seem to understand right away.

In the end, only 12 percent of diners who saw the bullying intervened in some way. 

"The outcome was shocking, and unfortunately, not so shocking at the same time," Burger King said.

The video's message - No Jr. should be bullied - was echoed by the CEO and Founder of No Bully, Nicholas Carlisle. 

“The first step to putting an end to bullying is to take a stand against it,” Carlisle said. “Our partnership with the BURGER KING® brand is an example of how brands can bring positive awareness to important issues. You have to start somewhere and they chose to start within.”

Bullying Junior can be viewed at www.youtube.com/burgerking. For more information, visit www.NoBully.org.