Burger King (
BK for short) is a large international food corporation that sells
fast food in
chain stores. Its first restaurant — originally called 'Insta Burger King' — opened in
1954, in
Miami, Florida,
USA by
James McLamore and David Edgerton, who were both alumni of the
Cornell University School of Hotel Administration.
Burger King has more than 11,350 outlets in 57 countries and territories worldwide. 75% of them are located in the United States. In fiscal year 2002, the firm had US $11.3 billion in total sales. Around 55.3% of its business is drive-thru, and 20% is take-out. It has more than 340,000 employees. The current CEO of Burger King is Greg Brenneman (who took over from Brad Blum on August 1, 2004).
One of Burger King's worldwide favourite specialties is a hamburger called a "Whopper". The company sells about 2.4 billion hamburgers a year. Burger King has now extended the "Whopper" brand to include grilled chicken sandwiches. They also serve the angus burger , which is a larger, "better burger".
Around 2000, Burger King became the first major restaurant chain in the U.S. to offer a vegetarian meat selection on their menu. Taking the design and look of a Whopper Junior, the sandwich uses a Morningstar meatless patty instead. Shortly afterwards, another fast-food chain, Subway, introduced a sub with that option at many of their retail outlets as well.
Burger King in San Francisco with vegan protesters
On Friday, December 13, 2002, Burger King was purchased from British drinks firm Diageo for $1.5 (US) billion by a group of investors led by the investment firm Texas Pacific. The company plans on going public within the next two years.
Magic Johnson's company Magic Johnson Enterprises purchased 30 Burger King stores on June 7, 2004. Although they will feature sports memorabilia, they will retain the Burger King name.
Historically, Burger King has been the second-largest burger chain in North America, behind McDonald's. However Burger King has seen its revenues and market share decline in the early 2000s, and projections now have it falling to third-place (behind Wendy's) in hamburger market share in the United States in the near future. Burger King has been closing underperforming stores and changing its marketing strategy in order to turn its fortunes around.
Kids Club
Like other fast-food chains, Burger King has meals for children: the regular Kids Meal and the Big Kids Meal (introduced June 1999), which is aimed at "tweens" and teenagers and has more food. Burger King is also known for its longtime giveaway of free paper crowns to kids. Although the paper crown promotion has been largely discontinued, they are still associated with Burger King by the public, and remain a conscious symbol similar to the "Golden Arches" of McDonald's. In 1990, Burger King nationally launched the Burger King Kids Club, which was also discontinued.
The Burger King Kids Club Gang was a group of fictional characters created to promote the Burger King Kids Club meal:
- Kid Vid
- Snaps
- Jaws
- Wheels
- Boomer
- I./Q.
- Lingo
- J.D.
Advertising
The Subservient Chicken is a current viral marketing promotion by Burger King, featuring a man (presumably) in a chicken costume, who does nearly whatever action he is told to. Despite appearances, it is not a live webcam.
Hungry Jack's
When Burger King decided to expand their operations into Australia, they found that their business name was already trademarked by a man running a small takeaway food shop. Consequently, the first Australian franchise of the Burger King Corporation, established in Perth in 1971, was aptly titled Hungry Jack's, echoing the name and sentiment of the franchisee, Jack Cowin. Hungry Jack's sells the usual range of burgers, but also an Australian specialty, the Aussie Burger. This burger is based on the traditional Australian fish and chips shop favourite, including fried egg, bacon, onion, and beetroot with the traditional meat, lettuce, and tomato.
When the existing Australian trademark for Burger King lapsed, the American parent company wanted Cowin to change the Hungry Jack's outlets to the Burger King name. Cowin resisted the change, preferring to keep the Hungry Jack's name. The disagreement ended in a court case. In 2001, Hungry Jack's won the court case, and Burger King was ordered to pay $75 million to Hungry Jack's for breach of its franchise agreement.
Burger King opened several outlets in Australia under the Burger King name. In some cases Burger King outlets were located very close to existing Hungry Jack's outlets. Cowin negotiated with Burger King to buy up these outlets, renaming them in the process.
Even in the United States, Burger King found smaller operations had previously been using the name. One such restaurant in Mattoon, Illinois negotiated a settlement that forbids the chain from opening locations within 20 miles.
Hungry Jack's has made success with their Kids Club mascots, allowing children to have birthday parties at their restaurants based on different themes, and also with their Kids Club Meals (similar to McDonald's Happy Meal).
See Burger King Kingdom.
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