Burger King Ditches Its 40 Year Old Tag Line, But Doesn’t Go Far For With The New One

Burger King has decided to retire its slogan “Have It Your Way.” But its new tagline doesn’t seem to inspire much confidence, unless one understands the intention.

Burger King is ditching its 40-year-old Have It Your Way slogan in favor of the more personal “Be Your Way.” The new tag line will roll out across its marketing avenues in the US. The ad with the new slogan will begin airing this Monday. Incidentally, the company had teased about the change last month, when the new slogan was included in an online video.

Though the new slogan may appear to be a rip–off of the previous one, Burger King has a good explanation about the new one. Burger King explained in a statement that the new motto is intended to remind people that “they can and should live how they want anytime. It’s OK to not be perfect… Self-expression is most important and it’s our differences that make us individuals instead of robots,” reported Business Week.

Apparently it’s all about being emotionally appealing and relevant. “We want to evolve from just being the functional side of things to having a much stronger emotional appeal,” said Fernando Machado, Burger King’s Senior Vice President of Global Brand Management.

However, cautioning about the change, Laura Ries, President of the Brand Consulting Firm Ries & Ries, said, “The problem is that people don’t see themselves as living the Burger King lifestyle. You’ve got to be realistic with the place that your brand holds in real life.”

What she could have meant was Burger King is currently involved in a bitter turf war with its arch rival McDonald’s. Both are clamoring to lure customers with constant revisions of their menus and free perks. This could seriously hamper the idealistic placement Burger King wants within the customers’ hearts.

However, the slogan change was inevitable as the chain of restaurants has been getting new upper management. The switch is the latest in a series of marketing and menu changes under Burger King’s new management. The chain was bought by investment firm 3G Capital in late 2010, then taken public again in 2012. Soon after, 3G replaced the chain’s CEO and early this year, Axel Schwan was appointed as Global Chief Marketing officer, reported Fox News. Hence its only natural that the new management wants to re-invent the wheel.

Interestingly, Burger King is unifying the slogans. Even the “Taste Is King” slogan is being ditched, and customers will be greeted only with “Be Your Way.” It’s great to see Burger King change things up, but as a fast food chain, shouldn’t the company actually ‘Heat Things Up’?