Burger King – A Tale of the King of Hamburgers

The year was 2007 when Burger King got listed in The Corporate 100 of Hispanic Magazine and in 2009 Burger King Corporation was recognized by Forbes Magazine as one of the America’s Top Companies, and by Interbrand as one of its Top 100 “Best Global Brands”. Ad Week also has named Burger King as one of the top three industry-changing advertisers within the last three decades.

 

The Bright Side

 

Burger King has not only won the hearts of the public but also rose to fame in Hollywood. In fact, this brand provided a free supply of hamburgers to at least 11 celebrities including Jay Leno, Hugh Laurie, and Jennifer Hudson. Burger King is also proud of it’s once partnership with the movie mogul George Lucas at the time of promoting “Star Wars”. They have also partnered with Disney, and Pokemon in the year 1999 and enjoyed soaring revenues at the time of movie releases like Beauty and the Beast, and Toy Story.

[snap url="http://burgerking.com" alt="Burger King"]Burger King has earned an A+ rating by the Better Business Bureau for its ethical business practices. The Corporation has taken several steps to protect the environment tackling the health issues while not compromising on the quality offered to customers. As such, Burger King Restaurants offer up to 350 unique combinations of meals which are less than 650 calories. Also the Kids Meal Choices strictly adhere to the nutrition criteria. Burger King is also safeguarding the environment by using napkins in its U.S. Restaurants that are only made from 100% recycled content. Also the Duke Flexible Batch Broilers used reduce the gas consumption by up to 52%. Another initiative by Burger King i.e. The High Yield Concentration Syrup Initiative heavily reduces the environmental impact of distributing products from The Coca-Cola Company.

Burger King acting as an active advocate of entrepreneurship and employment generation provides opportunities for opening up franchises with $1.5 million net worth and $500,000 liquid assets making the corporation a very affordable option compared to the rest. There is a 70 days exclusive training program held to the aspiring entrepreneurs covering a variety of topics related to technical and managerial skills. With an amicable nature on the website without creating an untouchable feeling, Burger King is still listed as one of the Top 28 Fastest Growing Franchises in the Entrepreneur Magazine.

 

The gray side

 

Despite winning the hearts of the Americans and millions of customers worldwide, “The King” is not ruling the industry or the kingdom and there are a lot of threads attached to it. Paul, who is associated with Starbucks that ranks at No.3 behind McDonald, and Subway (according to research firm Technomic’s listing of America’s top 500 restaurant chains in total 2010 U.S. Sales) opines that Burger King and Wendy’s need to figure out where their niche is.

Also it is said that Burger King does not offer many healthy choices and is one of the last fast food chains to advocate healthy changes like avoiding trans-fats and offering healthy menu options at the same time. It has been calculated that the “Triple Whopper” sandwich has over 1230 calories and 82 grams of fat and this is definitely not a healthy option.

Burger King has also been tangled with several legal disputes and cases that have arisen from diverse groups like PETA over the welfare of animals, various public and private agencies over health issues and compliance with nutritional labeling laws, and various unions and trade groups over labor relations and laws touching animal rights, corporate responsibility, ethics and social justice.

 

Summary

 

Operating more than 12,300 locations serving 11 million guests daily in 76 countries and territories worldwide, Burger King is backed by more than 57 years of innovation and expertise. Often abbreviated as BK, this global chain of hamburger fast food restaurants is headquartered in Florida, United States. Burger King was started in 1953 as Insta-Burger King by Kieth J. Kramer and Matthew Burns who were deeply involved in restaurant businesses before and finally teamed up to create an atmosphere where people could come and eat quality food in pleasant atmosphere. Burger King is found in all the 50 states of the United States.

Popularly known for their hamburgers, Burger King is supposedly the second largest fast food hamburger chain in the world and one of the main reasons for its success is its customized menu thriving to linger the taste buds of the local residents to the local flavors. In fact, Burger King could be the only place when you can look out for regional items in addition to the regular food items. You may find Whoppers with mustard in Texas and Breakfast Burritos in the Southwest. The main reason behind such customized menus can be traced back to the philosophy of the founders to give the customer what they really want.

Another surprising fact is that 90% of Burger King Locations are independently owned franchises run by the same family for decades. When people think of Burger King, they think of Whopper the signature mark of the brand which is the most popular item. This chain’s employees in the company owned restaurants, field management offices, and global head quarters alone constitute around 30,3000+. Burger King has gone public and got listed at NYSE in the year 2006 and the following year, Whopper Sandwich celebrated its 50th Anniversary. In 2010 the Corporation was acquired by 3G Capital.

 

Contact Info:

 

Burger King offers exciting career opportunities including promising internships and has also led its hand for the social cause with two of its own in-house national charitable organization and programs – Have It Your Way Foundation and the McLamore Foundation focusing on hunger alleviation, prevention of diseases and education to the whole community through scholarship programs at colleges in the US.

The Corporate Headquarters of Burger King Corporation is located at 5505 Blue Lagoon Drive, Miami, Florida 33126 and can be reached by calling (305) 378-3000 for General Enquires, (305) 378-7200 for Marketing / Advertising Info, and (305) 378-3535 for Consumer Relations.

Visit Website : www.burgerking.com

Leave a Comment