Burger wars

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Prominent signage for McDonald's near a branch of Burger King in Munich. The two chains are widely considered to be the main competitors of the Burger Wars. McDonalds & Burger King 19-05-23 817.jpg
Prominent signage for McDonald's near a branch of Burger King in Munich. The two chains are widely considered to be the main competitors of the Burger Wars.

The Burger wars are a series of off-and-on comparative advertising campaigns consisting of mutually-targeted advertisements that highlight the intense competition between hamburger fast food chains McDonald's, Wendy's, Burger King and others in the United States. [1] The term first came into use during the late 1970s due to an attempt by Burger King to generate increased market and mind-share by attacking the size of bigger rival McDonald's hamburgers. [2] [3]

Contents

By the mid-1980s, the constant spending on advertising began to affect the major players. In 1987, Burger King laid off more than a hundred people from its corporate headquarters in Miami, Florida, while Dublin, Ohio-based Wendy's reported its first quarterly operating loss since its founding in 1969. Conversely, McDonald's operating revenue and profit increased while its market share also grew. [4] Smaller chains, such as Hardee's, worked to keep from getting caught up in the extensive financial brinkmanship by avoiding the expensive ad campaigns and by staying in smaller, more geographically limited locations. [5]

The New York Times states that the poor economy of the late 2000s and early 2010s recessionary period led to the return of the Burger Wars. Because of tightened budgets, consumers have been forced to seek value and the major fast food chains are in increasing competition for consumer dollars. The Wendy's chain has been at the forefront of the revival, airing a series of ads that feature founder Dave Thomas's daughter Melinda Lou Morse, the original "Wendy", advertising a series of new burgers and reviving its Where's the beef? advertising slogan. [6] A March 2014 report in USA Today noted that Burger King is reviving the Burger Wars, including introducing clones of the Big Mac and McRib sandwiches, in response to business declines at McDonald's. [7]

Modern examples

In a 2007 advertising campaign, Jack in the Box aired a series of television ads in the United States that disparaged several rivals' Angus-beef burgers in which it was alleged that they equated Angus beef with an anus. Rival chain operator CKE claimed the ads were misleading because they confuse consumers by comparing sirloin, a cut of meat found on all cattle, with Angus, which is a breed of cattle. CKE, operator of the Carl's Jr. and Hardee's chains, had been noted for running controversial ads and claimed that there was no comparison between the ads they were running and those of Jack In the Box because their ads did not insinuate their products came from an undesirable part of cows. [8]

Because of their similar preparation styles and menus, the expansion of Five Guys into the territories of its Los Angeles-based counterpart In-N-Out has been described as a newer version of the Burger Wars by several publications. [9] [10]

Breakfast Wars

The entry of Taco Bell into the breakfast fast-food business in 2014 for its United States locations triggered a related phenomenon known as the "Breakfast Wars", particularly between Taco Bell and McDonald's. Taco Bell rolled-out its breakfast menu by soliciting testimonials from people named Ronald McDonald, a move to which McDonald's responded by providing free coffee for a two-week period. [11] Similarly, McDonald's Canada recently began offering free coffee for a week during Tim Hortons' "Roll Up the Rim to Win" campaign. [12] Taco Bell's new value menu Dollar Cravings was instigated in reaction to McDonald's and Wendy's value menus. [13] [14] [15] [16]

Burger King's McWhopper proposal

On August 26, 2015, Burger King released an open letter to McDonald's proposing a joint promotion for Peace Day called the "McWhopper", a combination of the two restaurants' signature burgers. [17] The overture was rejected by McDonald's, [18] a response that drew mostly criticism for its tone and the sense of a missed opportunity. Despite the missed opportunity, President Barack Obama declared it a breaking point in the "Fight for $15" movement, reportedly saying that the "McWhopper" was an example of how American fast food corporations can learn to unite for a common cause, and he hoped it could be further utilized as a springboard in raising the minimum wage for uneducated fast food workers.[ citation needed ] McDonald's later released a commercial directed by comic filmmaker Mel Brooks to much critical acclaim,[ citation needed ] showcasing the charitable efforts of characters Ronald McDonald and the Hamburglar along with the promised effort to renew the "Fight for $15". [19] [20]

On September 1, 2015, Burger King announced that they had been approached by representatives from Denny's, Wayback Burgers, Krystal, and Giraffas about partnering on a similar project. Burger King then announced the "Peace Day Burger", which would feature ingredients from all five restaurants' burgers. [21]

See also

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fast-food restaurant</span> Type of restaurant

A fast-food restaurant, also known as a quick-service restaurant (QSR) within the industry, is a specific type of restaurant that serves fast-food cuisine and has minimal table service. The food served in fast-food restaurants is typically part of a "meat-sweet diet", offered from a limited menu, cooked in bulk in advance and kept hot, finished and packaged to order, and usually available for take away, though seating may be provided. Fast-food restaurants are typically part of a restaurant chain or franchise operation that provides standardized ingredients and/or partially prepared foods and supplies to each restaurant through controlled supply channels. The term "fast food" was recognized in a dictionary by Merriam–Webster in 1951.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burger King</span> Global chain of hamburger fast food restaurants headquartered in Florida

Burger King Corporation is an American multinational chain of hamburger fast food restaurants. Headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida, the company was founded in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacksonville, Florida–based restaurant chain. After Insta-Burger King ran into financial difficulties, its two Miami-based franchisees David Edgerton (1927–2018) and James McLamore (1926–1996) purchased the company in 1959 and renamed it "Burger King". Over the next half-century, the company changed hands four times and its third set of owners, a partnership between TPG Capital, Bain Capital, and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners, took it public in 2002. In late 2010, 3G Capital of Brazil acquired a majority stake in the company in a deal valued at US$3.26 billion. The new owners promptly initiated a restructuring of the company to reverse its fortunes. 3G, along with its partner Berkshire Hathaway, eventually merged the company with the Canadian-based doughnut chain Tim Hortons under the auspices of a new Canadian-based parent company named Restaurant Brands International.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whopper</span> Hamburger sold at Burger King and Hungry Jacks

The Whopper is the signature hamburger and an associated product line sold by the international fast food restaurant chain Burger King and its Australian franchise Hungry Jack's. Introduced in 1957, the hamburger has undergone several reformulations, including changes to portion size and bread used. The hamburger is well known in the fast food industry, with Burger King advertising itself as "the Home of the Whopper" and naming its kiosk stores the BK Whopper Bar. In response to the Whopper, Burger King's competitors have developed similar products designed to compete against it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Burger King</span> Mascot of American food chain Burger King

The Burger King is a king character used as the primary mascot for the fast-food restaurant chain of the same name. The first iteration of the Burger King was part of a sign at the first Burger King restaurant in Miami, Florida, in 1955. Later signs showed the King sitting on a "burger throne" as well as atop the BK sign while holding a beverage. In the early 1970s, Burger King started using a small and animated version of the King in its children's advertising, voiced by Allen Swift. In 1976, the original animated King was replaced by the "Marvelous Magical Burger King" which was a red-bearded and Tudor-era king who ruled the Burger King Kingdom and performed magic tricks that were mostly sleight-of-hand but sometimes relied on camera tricks or involved his "Magic Ring" which could summon copious amounts of food. The Burger King Kingdom advertisements were discontinued in the late 1980s in favor of the BK Kids Club Gang and other advertising programs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Value menu</span> Low-priced items on a menu

A value menu is a group of menu items at a fast food restaurant that are designed to be the least expensive items available. In the US, the items are usually priced between $0.99 and $2.99. The portion size, and number of items included with the food, are typically related to the price.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Big King</span> Hamburger sold by Burger King

The Big King sandwich is one of the major hamburger products sold by the international fast-food restaurant chain Burger King, and was part of its menu for more than twenty years. As of March 2019, it is sold in the United States under its 1997 Big King XL formulation. During its testing phase in 1996–1997, it was originally called the Double Supreme and was configured similarly to the McDonald's Big Mac—including a three-piece roll. It was later reformulated as a more standard double burger during the latter part of product testing in 1997. It was given its current name when the product was formally introduced in September 1997, but maintained the more conventional double cheeseburger format.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Food photography</span> Photographs of food

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fast food advertising</span> Promotion for fast food

Fast food advertising promotes fast food products and utilizes numerous aspects to reach out to the public.

Since it was founded in 1954, international fast food chain Burger King has employed many advertising programs. During the 1970s, its advertisements included a memorable jingle, the inspiration for its current mascot the Burger King and several well-known and parodied slogans, such as Have it your way and It takes two hands to handle a Whopper. From the early 1980s until approximately 2002, Burger King engaged a series of advertising agencies that produced many unsuccessful slogans and programs, including its least successful campaign, Where's Herb?.

As far back as the 1970s, international fast food restaurant chain Burger King has attempted to introduce a premium line of burgers. These sandwiches are part of a system which eventually became known as the barbell strategy; a plan designed to expand Burger King's menu with both more sophisticated, adult-oriented fare along with products that are more value-oriented. This program is intended to bring in a larger, more affluent adult audience who will be willing to spend more on the better quality products on one side while maintaining a lower cost value menu dedicated to a more cost-conscious audience on the other. The hope is that the customers would be drawn in initially for the lower prices of the value-menu and upgrade to the more expensive products, upping overall sales.

The predecessor to what is now the international fast food restaurant chain Burger King was founded on July 23, 1954, in Jacksonville, Florida, as Instant Burger King. Inspired by the McDonald brothers' original store location in San Bernardino, California, the founders and owners, Keith G. Cramer and his stepfather Matthew Burns, began searching for a concept. After purchasing the rights to two pieces of equipment called "Insta" machines, the two opened their first stores around a cooking device known as the Insta-Broiler. The Insta-Broiler oven proved so successful at cooking burgers, they required all of their franchises to carry the device. After the original company began to falter in 1959, it was purchased by its Miami, Florida, franchisees James McLamore and David R. Edgerton. The two initiated a corporate restructuring of the chain; the first step being to rename the company, Burger King. The duo ran the company as an independent entity for eight years, eventually expanding to over 250 locations in the United States, when they sold it to the Pillsbury Company in 1967.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burger King products</span> Products of Burger King

When the predecessor of international fast food restaurant chain Burger King (BK) first opened in 1953, its menu predominantly consisted of hamburgers, French fries, soft drinks, milkshakes, and desserts. After being acquired by its Miami, Florida franchisees and renamed in 1954, BK began expanding its menu by adding the Whopper sandwich in 1957, and has since added non-beef items such as chicken, fish, and vegetarian offerings, including salads and meatless sandwiches. Other additions include a breakfast menu and beverages such as Icees, juices, and bottled waters. As the company expanded both inside and outside the United States, it introduced localized versions of its products that conform to regional tastes and cultural or religious beliefs. To generate additional sales, BK occasionally introduces limited-time offers of special versions of its products, or brings out completely new products intended for either long- or short-term sales. Not all of these products and services have been successful; in 1992, Burger King introduced limited table service featuring special dinner platters, but this concept failed to generate interest and was discontinued.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Where's Herb?</span> 1985 advertising campaign for Burger King

Where's Herb? was an advertising campaign for the fast food chain Burger King that ran in 1985 and 1986. The television commercials featured a fictional character named Herb, who was described as never having eaten a Whopper in his life. Advertisements called on fans to visit their local Burger King in the hope of finding Herb and winning a prize. The campaign also included an "I'm not Herb" promotion, in which customers could get a discounted Whopper by including the phrase in their order. This confused people who tried to follow the promotion because they did not know what Herb looked like. By the time his appearance was revealed, many people had already lost interest in the campaign. The promotion was poorly received and was the last campaign that the J. Walter Thompson agency designed for Burger King.

Burger King Dinner Baskets were a series of products introduced in 1993 by the international fast-food restaurant chain Burger King. The products were designed to add appeal to families and customers looking for a "higher class" meal found in family style restaurants.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burger King grilled chicken sandwiches</span> Fast food items

The fast-food restaurant chain Burger King was the first major fast food chain to introduce a grilled chicken burger to the marketplace, in 1990, six months before Wendy's and four years before McDonald's. Since then, Burger King, and its Australian franchise Hungry Jack's have offered a variety of grilled chicken burgers, as have Wendy's and McDonald's.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dollar Cravings</span> Value menu of restaurant chain Taco Bell

Dollar Cravings is the value menu of American fast-food restaurant Taco Bell. Dollar Cravings was launched August 18, 2014 in reaction to the new McDonald's and Wendy's value/dollar menus. The current menu contains 13 food items. Dollar Cravings replaced Taco Bell's previous value menu Why Pay More. A Taco Bell spokesperson said few of the food items from the Why Pay More menu will remain in Dollar Cravings.

References

  1. ↑ "McDonald's Corporation". Funding Universe. Archived from the original on 17 October 2006. Retrieved 15 January 2011. A period of aggressive advertising campaigns and price slashing in the early 1980s became known as the "burger wars."
  2. ↑ Romeo, Peter (1988-12-19). "Brinker: a man with a vision". Nation's Restaurant News. Archived from the original on 2013-01-13. Retrieved 2008-03-03.
  3. ↑ Lubow, Arthur (1998-04-19). "Steal This Burger". The New York Times . Archived from the original on 2018-07-16. Retrieved 2007-12-04. Fast-food veterans surveying today's cutthroat competition will be reminded of the First Burger War
  4. ↑ Shriver Jr., Jube (6 May 1987). "Burger Wars Taking a Bite Out of Profit". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 28 May 2012. Retrieved 15 January 2011. The nationwide burger wars, waged mostly in multimillion-dollar television commercials, are hitting some hamburger chains on the bottom line--forcing layoffs and losses.
  5. ↑ Hum, Scott (25 October 1993). "Hardee's: Back to Its Roots". Adweek. Retrieved 15 January 2011. And it [Hardee's] kept its head down during the 'Burger Wars' of the early 1980s, when Burger King, McDonald's and Wendy's took on each other in expensive network TV battles.
  6. ↑ Elliot, Stuart (25 September 2011). "After 27 Years, an Answer to the Question, 'Where's the Beef?". New York Times. Archived from the original on 22 December 2018. Retrieved 29 September 2011.
  7. ↑ Friedman, Nicky (March 19, 2014). Burger King hits McDonald's where it hurts Archived 2016-05-12 at the Wayback Machine . USA Today . Retrieved March 19, 2014.
  8. ↑ "Burger wars: Jack in the Box sued over ad". NBC News. Associated Press. 29 May 2007. Archived from the original on 14 October 2014. Retrieved 29 September 2011.
  9. ↑ Ta, Lien (6 May 2011). "Los Angeles Burger Wars: Five Guys Versus In-N-Out". Huffington Post. Archived from the original on 9 September 2011. Retrieved 29 September 2011.
  10. ↑ "L.A. Burger Wars". National Association of Convenience Stores. 11 April 2011. Archived from the original on 17 April 2011. Retrieved 29 September 2011.
  11. ↑ Horovitz, Bruce (March 29, 2014). Breakfast wars perk up: McDonald's pours free coffee Archived 2017-02-13 at the Wayback Machine . USA Today. Retrieved March 29, 2014.
  12. ↑ Moran, Andrew (March 2, 2011). "Coffee war: McDonald's free coffee v. Tim Hortons Roll Up the Rim". Digital Journal. Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved September 7, 2015.
  13. ↑ Sacks, Brianna (18 August 2014). "Taco Bell is latest chain to offer a dollar menu - LA Times". Los Angeles Times . Archived from the original on 2014-08-24. Retrieved 2014-08-25.
  14. ↑ Tuttle, Brad (August 18, 2014). "Taco Bell Breathes New Life Into Fast-Food Dollar Menus". Money.com . Archived from the original on May 30, 2022. Retrieved 2014-08-25.
  15. ↑ Patton, Leslie (15 August 2014). "Taco Bell to Introduce Dollar Menu Nationwide - Bloomberg". Bloomberg.com. Bloomberg. Archived from the original on 2014-08-26. Retrieved 2014-08-25.
  16. ↑ Lutz, Ashley (15 August 2014). "Taco Bell Dollar Menu New - Business Insider". Business Insider. Archived from the original on 2014-08-26. Retrieved 2014-08-25.
  17. ↑ "McWhopper". Mcwhopper.com. Archived from the original on 2016-02-01. Retrieved 2016-02-08.
  18. ↑ "McDonald's - Dear Burger King, Inspiration for a good..." Facebook. Archived from the original on 2015-11-27. Retrieved 2016-02-08.
  19. ↑ Duprey, Rich (31 August 2015). "McDonald's Makes a McWhopper of a Mistake in Response to Rival's Offer". The Motley Fool. Archived from the original on 2 September 2015. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
  20. ↑ Connelly, Tony. "McDonald's rejects Burger King's proposal to partner up on McWhopper". The Drum. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2016-02-08.
  21. ↑ "Burger King on Tumblr — It looks like we're going to need a bigger table ..." Burgerking.tumblr.com. Archived from the original on 2016-01-21. Retrieved 2016-02-08.
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