Does anybody remember the original Burger King?

Question

Way back in the '70's he was a cartoon guy that rode a chopper. Nobody believes me. Am I crazy????

Answer 1

yes, and he wasn't nearly as creepy as the new guy.

Answer 2

I remember the original Burger King vaguely, it was way back in the 70's

Answer 3

Yes , I totally remember him... He was slimmer and had a beard .. He did NOT have that big oversized head like he does now! I remember him in cartoon.He was also sometimes portrayed by a "real" person! They used to give out crowns ( maybe they still do ) at Burgerking.

Answer 4

I remember the one where he sings "a twist of my ring, we're at Burger King"
The new Burger King is kind of scary though.

Answer 5

Yeah you are crazy,
I don't remember that at all. I'm 38, should I?

Answer 6

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230055178981&category=20168

http://cgi.ebay.com/1970s-BURGER-KING-LOT-OF-ERASER-CASE-BOX-WHOLESALE-TOY_W0QQitemZ5908222735QQihZ014QQcategoryZ769QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem

I think you're correct about the helicopter too but can't seem to find any info on it on the net. Hope you have better luck!

Answer 7

i wasnt born then i dont think ur crazy just most ppl forgot im sure

Answer 8

http://youtu.be/AyLk1l-nBaI

Answer 9

yes i do

Answer 10

The Burger King character you remember was in fact one of many used over the years, But it was not the original. I also remember seeing the particular commercial that you are talking about but there were many Burger king characters before that particular one.


The Original
Burger King

Burger King's first restaurant, originally called Insta Burger King, was opened on December 4, 1954 in Miami, Florida, USA by James McLamore and David Edgerton, who were both alumni of the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration. McLamore had visited the hamburger stand belonging to Dick and Mac McDonald in San Bernardino, California; being able to sense potential in their innovative assembly line-based production system, he decided to create a version of his own.

Coincidentally, the first restaurant's milkshake machine was sold to them by Ray Kroc, who later bought the McDonald's restaurant chain from its founders and oversaw its worldwide expansion.

In 1967, Burger King was bought by Pillsbury, which was bought by Grand Metropolitan PLC of Britain in 1988.

In 1989, the Burger King brand acquired many locations of its major UK rival Wimpy when its parent company bought the brand from its previous owner United Biscuits and re-branded them as "Burger King", giving it an even greater presence in that country. While other "Wimpy" locations are still trading today (now independent from BK) they no longer have the presence they once did (the market is now dominated by Burger King and the larger McDonald's).

In 1997, Grand Metropolitan merged with Guinness to form a company called Diageo.

On Friday, December 13, 2002, Burger King was purchased from Diageo for $1.5 (US) billion by a private equity group headed by Stanley Foster and the investment firm Texas Pacific Group (TPG)[1]. The company planned to go public within the next two years, though this was delayed until 2006. The new owners, through several new CEOs, revitalized the company; they realized about $367 million of the dividends.

On February 1, 2006, CEO Greg Brenneman announced TPG's plans to turn Burger King into a publicly traded company by issuing an Initial Public Offering. On February 16, the company announced it had filed its registration for the IPO with the Securities and Exchange Commission. On May 18, 2006, Burger King began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol BKC.


[edit] Trademark disputes
As it expanded in the United States, Burger King found that 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 (32 km). See Burger King (Mattoon, Illinois).

In a trademark settlement with San Antonio local chain Whopper Burger, Burger King was not allowed to open locations within two counties of the city. The chain was ultimately bought out in the mid 80s, opening the way for San Antonio Burger King locations.

A trademark conflict also arose in Australia; see Hungry Jack's, below.


[edit] Facts and figures

Burger King, Mississauga, Ontario, CanadaBurger King Holdings is the parent company of Burger King, in the US it operates under the Burger King Brands title while internationally it operates under the Burger King Corporation banner. It is a publicly traded company with investment firms of Texas Pacific Group, Bain Capital, and Goldman Sachs each owning about 25% of the company.

Historically, Burger King has been the second largest burger chain in North America, behind McDonald's. However, Burger King's revenues and market share have been declining. In the early 2000s, Burger King fell to a near tie for second place with Wendy's. Burger King has been closing under-performing stores and changing its marketing strategy in an attempt to turn its fortunes around. In fiscal year 2002, the firm had US $11.3 billion in total sales.

As of 2006, there are more than 11,220 Burger King outlets in 61 countries. 66% of the restaurants are in the United States. The company has more than 340,000 employees who serve approximately 11.4 million customers daily.

Almost 90% of Burger King restaurants are privately owned and operated, or franchised. While Burger King Corporation sets standards for exterior store appearance, food quality and menu, individual owners have control over hours of operations, interior decor, pricing and staff uniforms and wages. For example, Magic Johnson's company Magic Johnson Enterprises purchased 30 Burger King stores on June 7, 2004. The stores were redecorated with a sports memorabilia theme. These locations officially reopened on December 3, 2004.

Burger King has a longstanding presence at U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force installations worldwide, dating back to the 1980s under a contract with Army and Air Force Exchange Service. Today, while other chains such as Taco Bell, Popeye's and Subway have a presence on military bases, virtually every major Army and Air Force installation hosts a BK restaurant. BK Corporation also has installations on Marine Bases, two on Camp Lejeune, which are the most profitable in the state, and at least one in Okinawa, Japan. Others are operated by franchisees.

Many Burger King outlets, even inside cities, require customers to operate a motor vehicle to purchase food during late evening hours.

Burger King is one of the few companies that does not accept communication via email.


[edit] Hungry Jack's profile
When Burger King decided to expand its operations into Australia, it found that its 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 branded Hungry Jack's, echoing the name and sentiment of the franchisee, Jack Cowin.

In 1986, Hungry Jack's purchased 11 failing Australian Wendy's Old Fashioned Hamburgers locations and rebranded them under the Hungry Jack's name.

When the existing Australian trademark for Burger King lapsed, the American parent company wanted Cowin to change the Hungry Jack's outlets back to the Burger King name. Cowin resisted the change, and the disagreement ended in a court case. In 2001, Hungry Jack's won the case, and Burger King was ordered to pay $75 million to Hungry Jack's for breach of its franchise agreement.


The slogan "The burgers are better at Hungry Jack's" is well known in Australia.Between 1996 and 2003, Burger King opened more than seventy outlets in Australia under the Burger King name. These built on their existing stores in international airports – the international territory apparently outside the Cowin licensing deal. In some cases the new Burger King outlets were located very close to existing Hungry Jack's outlets. In 2002, Burger King Australia exited the country and sold a 51% share of its Australian restaurants to TPF, the company that operates Burger King in New Zealand. In an attempt to improve rapidly falling sales, TPF re-branded its Burger King restaurants as Hungry Jack's in late 2003 believing that the Hungry Jack's name with its 30 year history was the stronger brand. A market research survey conducted six months after the re-branding showed that Burger King had been the preferred brand, and that the words most often chosen by respondents in the survey to describe Hungry Jack's were "slow" and "dated"[citation needed]. In mid 2005, TPF decided to exit the Australian market and sold its 51% share of the former Burger King sites to Hungry Jack's Pty Ltd, the company operated by Jack Cowin.

While Burger King's logo has since changed to the "blue swirl" design, the Hungry Jack's logo is still (as of 2005) based on the previous Burger King logo, employing the simpler bun-and-filling motif.

Hungry Jack's sells the usual range of burgers but also offers an Australian specialty: the Aussie Burger. This burger is based on the traditional Australian fish and chips shop favorite, including fried egg, bacon, onion, and beetroot, with the traditional meat, lettuce, and tomato. Hungry Jack's locations are required to follow any menu changes made by Burger King. Hungry Jack's introduced a breakfast menu in late 2005 This breakast menu was made to follow Burger King.

When the Hungry Jacks breakfast menu was firstly introduced it was only available in 3 states (Queensland, New South Wales, and Northern Territory). The Hungry Jacks breakfast menu was introduced into the other states on October 31st 2006.

Hungry Jack's retains strong links with Perth, with the city's first team in the Australian Football League- the West Coast Eagles- having been sponsored by Hungry Jack's since their entry into the league in 1987.

Hungry Jack's has seen success with its Kids Club mascots, allowing children to have themed birthday parties at its restaurants, and also with its Kids Club Meals (similar to McDonald's Happy Meal) often using well known collectable toys; see Burger King Kingdom.

Hungry Jack's in Australia has trademarked the new slogan 'Oh Yeah' which has featured in late 2005/early 2006 commercials. Other changes at Hungry Jack's include new fresh salads and deli-style baguettes.

Many larger Hungry Jack's stores in Australia, especially in Perth, Western Australia, where the first Hungry Jack's store opened, have a 1950s/1960s styled theme. Background music from this era is played (sometimes through a 50s style Jukebox), and contemporary pictures and memorabilia are often hung around the stores. In larger sit-down style restaurants the seats and tables are laid out in a 1950s "Diner" style manner.


[edit] Products
Items with their own page will have a brief description only. For a detailed description of those items, click the name of the item to go to their pages.


[edit] Burgers

Whopper Combo with fries and drinkBurger King's trademark product is a hamburger called the Whopper. It has a 4 ounce burger patty, mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato, ketchup, onion and pickle on a sesame seed roll. It is available in all markets.
The Angus Burger is a larger burger made with Angus beef. It is served with mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato, onion and steak sauce on a corn-dusted bun. It is only available in the North American market.
The BK Stacker sandwiches consists of two, three, or four beef patties, "Stacker" Sauce (a Thousand Island Dressing variant), bacon and American cheese. It is only available in the North American market.
The BK Crown Jewels line of burgers are made with a Whopper patty and a variety of toppings served on a Kaiser (Bulkie) roll. They are served only in the New Zealand market
The Rodeo Cheeseburger is a burger with American cheese, onion rings and barbecue sauce on a sesame seed bun. It is available in parts of the US, UK and Ireland.
The Monterey Melt Sandwich is two burger patties, mayonnaise, lettuce, red onion, Pepperjack cheese and an infused olive oil served on a fresh cooked baguette roll. It is available in the UK and Ireland as part of the Baguette line.
The Supreme Cheeseburger is a single variant on the Big King. It is available in the UK and Ireland.
The BK Veggie is a meatless burger. In the US, it is served with mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato, and ketchup on a sesame seed bun. In the UK and Ireland it also has onion and pickles.
The Spicy Bean Burger is a deep-fried, breaded meatless burger. It is served with ketchup, tomato, and American cheese on a 7 inch long (20 cm) sesame seed bun. It is available in the UK and Ireland.

[edit] Chicken & Fish
The Original Chicken Sandwich is the "basic" chicken sandwich sold by BK. It is made with mayonnaise and lettuce and is served on a sesame seed bun. It is available in all markets, except Australia, under various names.
The TenderCrisp is a deep-fried chicken sandwich with mayonnaise, lettuce and tomato and is served on a corn-dusted bun. It is a larger, whole muscle piece of chicken breast instead of a formed patty like the Original Chicken. It is sold in the North American and New Zealand markets.
The TenderGrill sandwich is one of BK's grilled chicken sandwiches with honey mustard, lettuce and tomato and is served on a corn-dusted bun. It is sold in the North American and New Zealand markets.
The Chicken Baguette Sandwiches are another line of grilled chicken sandwiches and are served on a fresh cooked baguette roll. They come in several varieties. They were sold in the US at one time but are now only sold in the European and Australian markets. In Australia, the Baguette line includes the fried chicken sandwiches.
The Flame Grilled Chicken Sandwich is another European grilled chicken sandwich with reduced fat mayonnaise, lettuce and salsa and is served on a fresh cooked bakery-style roll.
The BK Crown Jewels line of chicken sandwiches include fried and grilled chicken with a variety of toppings served on a Kaiser (Bulkie) roll. They are served on in the New Zealand market.
Chicken Tenders are shaped, breaded pieces of deep-fried, white-meat chicken. They are sold in the North American and New Zealand markets. In Australia, Chicken Tenders are marketed as Chicken Strips.
Chicken Strips are breaded pieces of deep-fried whole breast chicken pieces. They are sold in the European market.
Chicken Bites are battered pieces of deep-fried chicken pieces, equivalent to popcorn chicken and are a side order. They are sold in the European Market.
BK Chicken Fries, are French-fry cut pieces of breaded chicken and are a larger, adult oriented product made with higher quality ingredients than their Chicken Tenders. They are sold only on the North American Market.
BK sells a fish sandwich that varies in the market it is sold:
The BK Big Fish is the US fish sandwich with a breaded fish patty, lettuce, and tartar sauce and is served on a corn-dusted bun.
In the UK and Ireland it is called the Ocean Catch Sandwich and is served on a sesame seed bun.
In Australia, it is also called the Ocean Catch, and is part of the Baguette line of sandwiches.

[edit] Breakfast
The Croisand'wich is the signature breakfast sandwich in the US . The Croissan'Wich is also a family of breakfast sandwiches in various sizes and configurations. The standard Croissan'Wich consists of a sausage patty, eggs and American cheese on a croissant. Bacon and ham and be substituted for the sausage or they can be made without any meat.
The Meat'normous Omelet Sandwich is a breakfast sandwich sold in the US. The Meat'normous Omelet Sandwich consists of sausage patties, bacon, ham, eggs and American cheese on a sesame seed bun.
The Enormous Omelet Sandwich is a breakfast sandwich sold in the US. The Enormous Omelet Sandwich consists of sausage patties, bacon, eggs and American cheese on a sesame seed bun.
BK offers regional breakfast sandwiches in the US and Canada. The breads that BK offers are biscuits, bagels or English muffins. These optional breakfast sandwich are usually made with sausage patty, eggs and American cheese. Bacon and ham and be substituted for the sausage or they can be made without any meat.
The Breakfast Burrito is a US regional and Mexican offering made with a flour tortilla, shredded cheese, eggs and hash browns or sausage.
Cini-Minis are four, small cinnamon rolls served with vanilla icing. They are sold in the US and Canada.
BK also offers pancakes, French toast, French toast sticks, huevos rancheros and scrambled eggs in regional and international menus.

[edit] Other Products
Burger King's Kids Club Meals are offered to compete with the popular Happy Meal from McDonald's and the Wendy's Kid's Meal from Wendy's. Three varieties form the Kids Meal base: Chicken Tenders, Hamburger, or Cheeseburger. A preteen version of the Kids Meal, called the Big Kids Meal, debuted in 1999. It offers a selection of Chicken Tenders, Double Hamburger, or Double Cheeseburger meal.
With Chicken Tender sizing for the Kid's Club meal franchisees have the choice of sizes: either a 4- or 5-piece order for the regular Kid's Club Meal and either a 6- or 8-piece order for the Big Kid's Meal. BK owned restaurants sell the 4- and 6-piece sizes.
Little Tykes brand toddler toys are available on request instead of the regular toy offering in the US.
US Kids Meals are available with strawberry-Flavored applesauce or Onion rings as a French fry substitute, and any other drink option instead of a soft drink.
UK and Ireland Kid Meals offer Chicken Strips or Bites, hamburger, cheeseburger, or a veggie burger and two side orders.
Canadian Kid Meals offer Chicken Tenders, hamburger, cheeseburger, or a veggie burger.
New Zealand Kid Meals offer a 3-piece Chicken Tenders, hamburger or cheeseburger.
Burger King has a line of Salads that are available in a variety of types and sizes, depending in which country they are sold.
Chili is a US regional menu option found on BK's Value Menu.
Tacos are another US regional menu option found on BK's Value Menu.
BK offers several deserts:
In the US, they are Otis Spunkmeyer chocolate-chip cookies, strawberry-flavored applesauce, apple pie slices, Hershey's Sundae pie slices (a type of chocolate creme pie) and a rotating pie type, usually a flavor of cheesecake.
In Canada, BK sells apple or blueberry turnovers, Cini-Mins, and vanilla soft serve ice cream in cones and sundaes.
In the UK and Ireland, BK sells Cadbury branded ice cream and mini donuts.
In Australia, HJ offers vanilla soft serve ice cream in sundaes.
In New Zealand, BK offers apple pie slices, Hershey's Sundae pie slices, mini donuts and vanilla soft serve ice cream in cones and sundaes.
BK sells French Fries (chips or pommes frites) and onion rings as side orders. In the UK and Ireland, they also sell potato wedges, a type of French fry that is thick cut and wedge shaped.

[edit] Discontinued menu items (US)
In 1989, Burger King offered a set of miniature burgers called Burger Bundles. The Burger Bundles were sold in a set of three or six, much like White Castle or Krystal burgers, but served in a single package. The sandwich was reintroduced in a slightly different format called Burger Buddies. Instead of three or six miniature hamburger patties, it had a single number eight shaped patty that was served on a pair of co-joined buns. The sandwich was sold for 99¢ and was designed to be torn into two smaller sandwiches. There was a breakfast version of the Burger Buddies called the Breakfast Buddies that had eggs, cheese and a sausage patty, again for 99¢. Breakfast menus at the time also began selling mini hash-browns, which resemble Tater Tots.
The Big King was Burger King's response to McDonald's Big Mac and has a similar style and taste. The Big King was replaced in the U.S. by a similar product, the King Supreme, which was also later discontinued. The Big King is, however, still available in Argentina, Sweden, Germany, Austria, The Netherlands and the UK and Ireland. The King Supreme is still available in Canada.

[edit] Advertising
In the early to mid-1970s, Burger King ran a series of much-lampooned (but successful and catchy) television commercials in which its employees would sing: "Hold the pickles, hold the lettuce. Special orders don't upset us. All we ask is that you let us have it your way!" This advertising strategy aimed to contrast Burger King's flexibility with McDonald's famous rigidity.

Their first major cross-promotional success was in 1977 when they offered collectible glasses featuring characters from Star Wars. The promotion was wildly successful, and the glasses are highly sought after to this day.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Burger King used a mascot of the same name to advertise its meals during children's television programming. Originally an animated character (using the slogan "Where kids are king"), he was soon replaced by the "Marvelous Magical Burger King", a red-bearded king who ruled the Burger King Kingdom and performed magic tricks (mostly sleight-of-hand, but sometimes relying on camera tricks); other characters included "The Duke of Doubt" (his arch nemesis, who constantly tried to prove that the King's magic wasn't real), "Burger Thing" (a large burger puppet), "Sir Shakes-a-Lot" (a knight with a craving for Burger King milkshakes), and the "Wizard of Fries" (a robot who could "multifried", or generated french fries when given a sample). This campaign paralleled McDonald's children's commercials, which featured "Ronald McDonald," "The Hamburglar," and "Mayor McCheese," along with other characters and mascots.

In 1982, Burger King created an advertising stir when it created a set of commercials featuring a then-4-year-old Sarah Michelle Gellar, in which Gellar stated that McDonald's burgers were 20% smaller than Burger King's. Arguably the first attack ads on a food chain by a competitor, the campaign was controversial in that prior to it, fast food ads only made allusions to the competition in a vague manner, never mentioning them by name. McDonald's sued Burger King, the advertising agency that came up with the ads, and Gellar. The suit was settled the following year on undisclosed terms.

In November 1985, Burger King spent $40 million on the “Where’s Herb?” advertising campaign. The company stated that Herb was the only man in America who had never eaten a Whopper. If a customer located him in any store, he or she would win $5,000. Burger King purposely chose not to reveal what Herb looked like, resulting in annoyance among its patrons. In a Super Bowl XX commercial, Burger King finally revealed Herb as a bespectacled nerd in an ill-fitting suit. Herb toured stores across the country, appeared on The Today Show, and served as a guest referee during Wrestlemania 2. The campaign had little impact on sales and was quickly dropped. According to Advertising Age magazine, the Herb campaign was the "most elaborate advertising flop of the decade.” [2] [3]

In the early 1990s, Burger King advertised its dinner baskets and table service through the "BK Tee Vee" (or "BKTV") ad campaign. The taglines for the campaign were "BK Tee Vee... I Love this Place!" and "Your Way Right Away!", which featured Dan Cortese as "Dan Dan: The Whopper Man." The dinner baskets included the Whopper Dinner Basket, Steak Sandwich Dinner Basket, Fried Chicken Dinner Basket, and Shrimp Dinner Basket. Sides included a choice of a side salad, cole slaw, french fries, baked potato, or popcorn. The sit-down restaurant concept was abandoned in 1994 in favor of the original quick-service formula.

The official slogan for Hungry Jacks, the Australian version of Burger King, has been for for many years and currently is: "The burgers are better at Hungry Jacks."

The Burger King character was brought back in mid-2003, this time to advertise the chain's breakfast sandwiches. The character also appeared in the chain's promotion of the film Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. The latest commercials feature the King on the field of various National Football League games (using archive footage from NFL Films), in a cross-promotion with the NFL and DirecTV's NFL Sunday Ticket sports subscription package. (In the promotion, a code entered from the wrapper from an Angus burger sandwich could net several prizes, including free access to the Sunday Ticket package NFL Your Way promotion.) A further series of advertisements, which premiered during Super Bowl XL, featured the King orchestrating a Broadway-style show of "Whopperettes" – women dressed as burger condiments and toppings. In another ad a man wakes up to find the King lying next to him in bed. (In this incarnation, the King wears a grinning mask of the 1970s/1980s King's face, unlike the original King, whose face and beard were genuine.) The original animated Burger King character (seen as the plastic hand puppet that was available for free in the restaurants) has also made his return in recent ads.

The Subservient Chicken was a viral marketing promotion by advertising agency Crispin Porter and Bogusky for Burger King, featuring a person (presumably) in a chicken costume, who supposedly does, within reason, whatever he is told to. Despite appearances, it is not a live webcam.

Dr. Angus was another Crispin Porter + Bogusky creation launched in 2004. Played by British comedian Harry Enfield, he is a smarmy self-help "doctor" with gleaming white teeth and a starched toupee who encourages eaters to "sit down" and enjoy the BK's large Angus burgers. In 2006, his cheesy personality was used to advertise BK's new Cheesy Bacon Angus and Tendercrisp sandwiches.

Later in 2004, Burger King introduced the Tendercrisp Bacon Cheddar Ranch. The sandwich was promoted by a nationwide advertising campaign featuring recording artist Darius Rucker (of Hootie and the Blowfish) singing a jingle to the tune of "Big Rock Candy Mountain." Prior to this, Burger King's Spicy Tendercrisp Sandwich promotions featured a boxing match between two people in chicken suits, as broadcast at one time on DirecTV.

In the summer of 2005, Burger King introduced Chicken Fries to its menu. The advertising campaign featured a metal band called Coq Roq, who wore chicken masks parodying the style of masks of nu metal band Slipknot. The website included music videos, downloadable cellular ringtones, and a store selling band merchandise.

Following introduction of a Kids Meal to tie in with The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie in November of 2004, pranksters repeatedly stole inflatable advertisements from several restaurant roof tops [4] and sent the Burger King employees a ransom note demanding Krabby Patties. Similar promotions were devised for Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith with an inflatable Darth Vader, and Shrek 2 with an inflatable Shrek.

In December 2005, Burger King teamed with MTV for a "Have It Your Way" rap contest. Burger King and MTV selected Anthony Stokes out of 400 entries to star in a commercial. Part of his winning rap was "You can have it your way, there's nothin' to it / If you can dream it, you can do it!" The commercial ran for a short time, exclusively on MTV.

In March 2006, Burger King introduced the Big Buckin' Chicken commercial, made by CPB Miami to advertise the Tendercrisp Cheesy Bacon Chicken Sandwich. The TV ad shows old-fashioned 8 mm footage of a cowboy riding a chicken in a rodeo while people on the sideline cheer on. The voiceover concludes that "the only way to beat it, is to eat it." The latest commercial, the "Big Buckin' Chicken," features a large chicken riding a dirt bike.

In Summer 2006, Burger King launched a commercial stating that it's broilers, named 'Earl' on the commercials, won the most valuable employee award. With the Earl logo stamped on the side of the broiler on the commercial, it seems that this name was made up and that their broilers are actually made by Nieco and not named Earl.

In October 2006, Burger King rolled out a new design for both their drive-thru and dining room menu boards, expanding their Value meal selections to 12 items, from the previous 10.

In November 2006, Burger Kings will begin selling three advergaming titles for the Xbox and Xbox 360 (entitled Sneak King, Pocketbike Racer and Big Bumpin') for an additional $3.99 each with any value meal.

Also in November, BK began a promotion for a version of the Double Whopper in Spain, where it is called the Double Cheese Bacon XXL, with the new slogan "It's awful being a vegetarian, right?".[2]

Also, in response to McDonald's McDeals, some Burger King restuarants introduced "King Deals". The schedule is Sunday - Whopper Junior, Monday - Big King, Tuesday - Chicken Sandwich, Wednesday - Whopper, Thursday - Bacon Cheeseburger, Friday - Fish Sandwich, and Saturday - Double Cheeseburger.


[edit] Slogans
Are you hungry for Burger King now?
Burger King: Where kids are king
Have it your way (this has been one of the longest running slogans of any company in the United States; Burger King has been using it since 1973)
When you have it your way, it just tastes better
If you ask us, it just tastes better
Your Way Right Away
We're America's Burger King
Home of the Whopper (some Burger King locations built in the 1960s and 1970s still have this slogan beneath the Burger King sign on the rooftop)
The Fire's Ready
Fuel Your Fire
Get Your Burgers' Worth
@ BK You Got It!
We do it like you'd do it!
We know how burgers should be
The BEST Food for FAST Times
It takes Two Hands to handle a Whopper
(In an ad featuring Mr. T) Mo Beef, Betta Taste
Magic makes it Special when you're with Burger King
BK Tee Vee: I love this place!
Aren't You Hungry?
Got the Urge? Come to Burger King
Burger King, where you're the boss!
BK4U
In the land of burgers, Whopper is king
Got the Urge?
Wake Up With the King
(Burger King Kids Club) Great food, cool stuff, kids only
(Burger King Kids Club) Just for fun, and just for you!
Taste Rules
Stack it high, tough guy (promoting BK Stackers)
Feel the Fire
Eat like a king. Not a clown. (In reference to Ronald McDonald of McDonalds.)
Bigger, Better, Burger King!.
Yeah, I just ate that
Rat Free since 1984 (1985 campaign)

[edit] Hungry Jack's Slogans
The Burgers are Better at Hungry Jack's
We're all about fresh at Hungry Jack's
Oh Yeah
We've just got to have it... Oh Yeah... Time to Hungry Jack it... Oh Yeah
Love it at Hungry Jack's
Home of The Whopper

[edit] Kids Club
Like other fast-food chains, Burger King offers meals for children: the regular Kids Meal and the Big Kids Meal (introduced June 1999), which is aimed at the preteen market and has larger portions. Burger King is also known for its longtime giveaway of free paper crowns, which are sometimes redesigned to match any promotions the restaurant may be running.

In 1990, Burger King launched the Burger King Kids Club across the United States, which continues in operation to this day and is the largest club of its kind in North America. Club members receive an annual mailing in the month of their birthday that contains games, product information, and a birthday gift in the form of a coupon for a free Kids Meal.

The Burger King Kids Club Gang was a group of multi-ethnic fictional characters created to promote the Burger King Kids Club meal. Their names were:

Boomer, a sports loving tomboy;
I.Q., male nerd who wore glasses and a pocket protector
Jaws, A tall African-American male with an insatiable appetite;
J.D., a dog and the groups mascot;
Kid Vid, a male who loves video games and technology;
Lingo, an multi-lingual, Hispanic male;
Snaps, a female who always carries her camera;
Wheels, a parapalegic male in a wheelchair.
After several years a new female character was added to the group:

Jazz, an Asian girl who loves music and sports a beret.
Each of the characters' signatures reflected their personality, e.g. Boomer signed her name with a football and baseball for the "O"s.

The use of these characters drew criticism from parental advocacy groups, who claimed that the use of stereotypical static characters instilled wrongful notions in children's minds. [citation needed] The groups' concerns were with Lingo, a Hispanic; Wheels, named for his wheelchair; I.Q., a stereotypically smart male nerd; and Kid Vid, a thin, blonde male of average height and is the obvious leader of the gang (and role model for children, despite allegations of Euro-centrism or even Aryanism from parental groups). Other concerns include the fact that one of original two girls in the gang, Boomer, is clearly a sports loving tomboy.

In the 1970s and into the 1990s, BK had a Kids Club that gave children coupons for selected products each month and an extra surprise if it was the child's birthday. In many areas to this day, children under the age of 12 can sign up to the BK Birthday Club, and receive a coupon for a free hamburger Kids meal in the mail on their birthday.

In 2005, the Kids Club Gang were replaced by the Honbatz, odd creatures consisting of Mixmax, a punk who likes showing off, Thisorthat, a green monster that likes to eat everything, Bonny, a genius and the only girl in the group, Chomp, an intimidating Honbatz, but still a big softie, and the Eeeps, small, red, ketchup-craving creatures. They have appeared in numerous ads.

In September of 2006 BK began using the original King design from the 1970s on its cups, bags and in non tie-in kids advertising.


[edit] Logos

Original "bun halves" logo
New "blue swirl" logoThe famous Burger King "Bun Halves" logo made its debut in 1969 and endured, with a graphical tightening in 1994, until it was replaced in 1999 (however, most restaurants did not acquire signs with the new logo until 2001). The logo, meant to resemble a hamburger, features the restaurant's name in red lettering on two lines, sandwiched between two yellow bun halves.

The new Burger King logo tilts the bun halves and the font on an axis, wraps the burger with a blue swirl, and has a more circular appearance.

The Hungry Jack's logo is based on the original Burger King "Bun Halves" design, and has been used since Hungry Jack's founding in 1971.


[edit] Countries and territories with Burger King restaurants
Afghanistan (With the occupation of U.S. military, some locations have a Burger King)
Andorra
Argentina
Aruba
Austria
Australia (mostly as Hungry Jack's, but some outlets, e.g. at Melbourne Airport's International Terminal, are branded Burger King)
Bahamas
Bahrain (locations are Halal)
Bulgaria
Bolivia
Bosnia & Herzegovina (Novi Grad, Sarajevo)
Brazil
Canada
Cayman Islands
Chile
People's Republic of China (first restaurant opened early 2005 in Shanghai)
Costa Rica
Cyprus
Denmark
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
El Salvador (first country in Central America to have a Burger King)
Faroe Islands
Germany
Guam
Guatemala
Guyana
Honduras
Hong Kong at the Departures Hall of the Hong Kong International Airport and a new location (August 2006) on Level 1 of The Peak Tower
Hungary
Iceland
India - Extremely rare..
Iraq (opened inside the Green Zone since 2003 after Gulf War II; though many locations have been bombed by insurgents; locations are Halal)
Ireland
Israel (some of the restaurants are kosher)
Italy
Jamaica
Japan
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kuwait
Lebanon
Malaysia (locations are Halal)
Malta
Mexico
Netherlands
Netherlands Antilles (includes Curaçao and St. Maarten)
New Zealand
Nicaragua
Norway
Panama
Paraguay
Peru
Philippines
Portugal
Puerto Rico
Qatar (locations are Halal)
Republic of Korea
Saudi Arabia (locations are Halal)
Singapore
Spain
St. Lucia
Sweden
Switzerland
Republic of China (Taiwan)
Thailand
Trinidad and Tobago
Turkey
Ukraine (first restaurant opened early in 2006 in Kiev)
United Arab Emirates
United Kingdom
United States
Uruguay
Venezuela (may close due to the order by Hugo Chavez)


Countries with Burger King restaurants
[edit] Countries and territories that once had Burger King restaurants
Finland (Burger King operated in Helsinki for a short period in the 1980s)
France (Burger King decided to leave France in 1997 and closed their 39 French outlets in 1998)
Japan (First store opened in 1996, restaurants closed in 2001; now the only outlets are on U.S. Air Force bases, operated by Burger King headquarters)
Poland (Burger King operated in Poland from 1994 to 2001. In 2001, Burger King decided to withdraw from the Polish market, and all 23 restaurants were sold to AmRest, the operator of both Pizza Hut and KFC franchises for Poland. 6 of the restaurants were closed and 17 rebranded to KFC.)
U.S. Virgin Islands (Burger King left both St. Croix and St. Thomas in 1997)
Colombia (Burger King operated in Bogotá for a short period in the 1980s)

[edit] See also
Burger King Kingdom
Burger King University
Whopper (signature sandwich)
Tendergrill
Big King
BK Tee Vee
McDonald's (biggest competitior)

[edit] References
^ "Burger King is a case in point. In 2002, a group of private equity funds bought the restaurant brand for $1.5 billion from its parent company, Diageo." "Are private buyouts good for the economy?", By Mark Trumbull ; 13 November 2006, The Christian Science Monitor
^ [1] Spain chews out Burger King over XXL burger, 17 November 2006; AP Wire Miami Herald

[edit] External links

A Burger King restaurant in Redwood City, California
[edit] Official websites
Burger King US website
Burger King Canada website
Burger King UK/Ireland website
Hungry Jack's website
Burger King New Zealand website
Burger King Turkey website
Hungry Jack's website
Links to Country specific Burger King websites
Burger King's Coq Roq website
Official Honbatz website
New Official Kid's website
Burger King US Nutritional Brochure

[edit] Other sites
Burger King & Food Safety
How many calories does Burger King food have?
Yahoo! Burger King Corporation Company Profile at Yahoo! Finance
Burger King Corporation Company Profile at Hoovers.com
Article on BK Kids Club no ProgressiveBoink.com
Parody of Burger King
Disgruntled Ex-Burger King Employee Page A parody/commentary site of QSR restaraunts