Burger King Shoves Crown In Face of McDonald’s

Burger King is still wearing the crown, and McDonald’s is falling behind in the fast food field, and fast.

Brian Sozzi of Belus Capital Advisors of The Street says that Burger King is passing McDonalds in the game because of emotional appeal, an easy to read menu and the fresh and extraordinary ingredients they sell.

Burger King offers the Angry Whopper, a sandwich that features

1?4 lb of savory fire-grilled beef, topped with thick-cut smoked bacon, melted Pepper Jack Cheese, freshly cut iceberg lettuce, spicy onion petals, ripe tomatoes, spicy jalapeños, and smothered with a spicy angry sauce, all on a warm, toasted, sesame seed bun.”

The name has emotional appeal to consumers, according to Sozzi. Much more so than McDonald’s newly introduced and boring sounding “Bacon Clubhouse Burger.” Where’s the creativity?

While Burger King shares are up 15.3 percent year to date versus McDonald’s 0.86 percent in the same time frame, BurgerBusiness pointed out last month that the average McDonald’s store made $2.6 million in annual revenue while the average Burger King store made only $1.2 million. Why could that be?

Remember when you were about 6 years old? I do. I can remember telling my mother that I wanted a Happy Meal, and no, you can’t get one of those at Burger King. It just isn’t the same. The little box with the handles, the games you can play on the box itself, it is ideal for a kid. And let’s not forget the toy.

McDonald’s also attracts more customers in the off peak hours. At midnight when someone wants a burger, McDonald’s is usually the first option because a lot of them are 24 hours, although there are also Burger King stores that are 24 hours as well, but Burger King isn’t what typically comes to mind for late night snacking.

Much like the Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan of the fast food industry, McDonald’s and Burger King have long been rivals. Their rivalry rolls in at number 11 on CNNMoney’s list of 50 Greatest Business Rivalries of All Time.

The founder of McDonald’s (Surprisingly, not named Ronald McDonald) is Ray Croc. He once said of competitors like Burger King:

If they were drowning to death I’d put the hose in their mouth.”

Burger King recently released their Big King sandwich, which is eerily similar to McDonald’s Big Mac, right down to the sauce. Per the Burger King website:

Our new Big King Sandwich features two savory fire-grilled beef patties, topped with, melted American cheese, fresh cut iceberg lettuce, crisp onions, crunchy pickles, and featuring a sweet thousand island style dressing, all on a warm, toasted, sesame seed bun.”

It even has a bun in the middle just like the Big Mac. Taken from the McDonald’s website, here is the description of the Big Mac:

A double layer of sear-sizzled 100% pure beef mingled with special sauce on a sesame seed bun and topped with melty American cheese, crisp lettuce, minced onions and tangy pickles.”

Who doesn’t love a little competition?

One thing that Burger King has that competitor McDonald’s doesn’t is a less fattening fry approach. Their new Satisfries boast that they have 40 percent less fat and 30 percent fewer calories than McDonald’s fries. They’re also crinkled.

Not many people know the history of Burger King, Home of the Whopper. Everyone knows about Dave Thomas and the Wendy’s story, and even Colonel Sanders and KFC. I’ll leave you with an interesting fact about the second largest fast food hamburger chain in the world:

In 1954 when the first Burger King was conceived, it wasn’t called “Burger King.” It was called “Insta Burger King.” If the name hadn’t changed, imagine a big business conglomerate between Instagram and Burger King!

Maybe they should have stuck with that.