Basic Trope: A kidnapper buys fast food for their hostage while on the run from the cops.
- Straight: Bob, a member of the Troper's Liberation Army, pulls over and buys hostage Alice a double western bacon cheeseburger combo, a 4 piece chicken combo, a large fries, two chocolate hot fudge sundaes, And a Diet Coke from a Happy Burger to tide her over.
- Exaggerated:
- Bob buys Alice a huge pile of food because he doesn't know what she'll like.
- Bob has multiple hostages and orders a full meal for each of them, and then one for himself.
- Downplayed: Bob buys Alice one burger from the dollar menu.
- Justified:
- If Alice starves to death while in Bob's captivity, he'll be guilty of murder, which carries a harsher sentence than kidnapping.
- Alice is a young girl who is also a picky eater, as little kids often are. She's demanding Happy Burger and Bob wants to keep her quiet.
- Whatever Bob's intentions are, he needs Alice alive to complete them. He's gotta feed her something.
- The leader of the TLA instructs his agents to feed their hostages with whatever they can afford, even if it's Happy Burger.
- Bob's just a Nice Guy who's only holding Alice hostage because he needs some money.
- It's already cruel enough to have Alice held hostage. Bob draws the line at starving her.
- Bob knows that if Alice tells the jury and the news that he let her starve, they will go from "lock him up" to "would somebody please execute this SOB?". He is cruel, not stupid.
- Inverted: Bob makes Alice go into the Happy Burger and buy them some food so the cashier won't recognize him from the news.
- Subverted: Bob buys Alice a meal from Happy Burger, but snatches it out of her hands and eats it himself.
- Double Subverted: He eats the burger, but lets her have the fries.
- Parodied:
- Kidnappers in Crime City visit the Happy Burger so often that the place starts offering a "Kidnapper's Half-Off Discount" in case they bring a hostage with them. This makes some parents tell the cashiers that they're holding their kids hostage just for the discount.
- When Bob's car passes by a Happy Burger, Alice starts loudly whining that she wants her favorite Happy Burger meal and Bob starts negotiating with her like a frustrated parent, sternly refusing to buy her a large soda because she won't finish it.
- Zig-Zagged: Multiple members of the Troper's Liberation Army take hostages in various locations around the city. Some of them buy their victims fast food, some don't.
- Averted: Bob doesn't buy Alice food.
- Enforced:
- Happy Burger is one of the show's biggest investors and Product Placement must be added, even if it's in a Hostage Situation storyline.
- The creators are writing the story in an urban area, and they need to show that Bob's a decent guy without having any action in this current moment.
- Lampshaded: "No wonder you're holding me for ransom. You can't afford anything more expensive than Happy Burger."
- Invoked:
- Alice asks Bob to get her fast food because she's hungry.
- Alice manipulates Bob into buying her food, both to slow him down and to create a trail the police can follow to rescue her.
- Bob asks Alice if she's hungry, trying to get her to eat some Happy Burger as a sign of good will.
- Exploited:
- The cops stage an ambush sting operation at the Happy Burger.
- Bob gets Alice her favorite meal from Happy Burger so she'll think he's not that bad and be more willing to cooperate with him.
- While Bob is distracted and has his hands full of food and soda, Alice manages to kick the car door (or car window) open and make a run for it.
- Defied:
- Bob refuses to buy Alice fast food.
- Alice refuses to eat fast food while hostage.
- Discussed: "Should we get that kid some food? I don't want her to starve, but I wanna show to them that we're serious about this whole kidnapping scheme."
- Conversed: "All I can think of is how absurdly incongruent it is to put a Happy Burger Kid Meal right there next to a tied up Alice."
Go back to Kidnapper's KFC and get me a chicken wrap and large fries while you're there, will you? I've been in this trunk for hours and I'm starving.
