Burger King facts for kids
Logo used since 2020
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Former corporate headquarters in Miami-Dade County, Florida (now home to Lennar)
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| Subsidiary | |
| Traded as | NYSE: BKC |
| Industry | Restaurants |
| Genre | Fast food restaurant |
| Predecessor | Insta-Burger King |
| Founded | Insta-Burger King: 1953 Jacksonville, Florida, U.S. Burger King: 1954 Miami, Florida, U.S. |
| Founder | Insta-Burger King: Keith J. Kramer and Matthew Burns Burger King: David Edgerton and James McLamore |
| Headquarters | 5707 Blue Lagoon Drive, Miami-Dade County, Florida, U.S. |
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Number of locations
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 19,247 (2021) |
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Area served
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Global |
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Key people
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| Products |
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| Revenue |
US$ 1.81 billion (2021) US$ 23.45 billion (system-wide sales)
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| US$ 1.02 billion (2021) |
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| Total assets |  US$ 4.94 billion (2021) |
| Parent | Restaurant Brands International |
Burger King is a big American company that sells hamburgers and other fast food. It started in 1953 as Insta-Burger King in Jacksonville, Florida. Later, in 1959, two people who owned Burger King restaurants in Miami, David Edgerton and James McLamore, bought the company. They changed its name to "Burger King."
For many years, Burger King changed owners several times. In 2010, a Brazilian company called 3G Capital bought most of Burger King. They worked to make the company better. Later, 3G Capital joined Burger King with a Canadian doughnut chain called Tim Hortons. They created a new parent company called Restaurant Brands International.
The 1970s were a great time for Burger King's TV ads. But in the 1980s, their ads became less clear. For the next 20 years, many different ad agencies tried to help, but it was tough. In 2003, Burger King hired a new ad agency, Crispin Porter + Bogusky (CP+B). They brought back a character called "The King" and made new online ads. These ads were very popular, but some people thought they were not sensitive enough. In 2011, the new owners stopped working with CP+B. They wanted new ads that focused on the food and appealed to more people.
Burger King's menu has grown a lot. It started with just burgers, fries, and milkshakes. In 1957, the "Whopper" was added. It quickly became Burger King's most famous item. While some new products didn't do well in the U.S., they sometimes became popular in other countries. Burger King also changes its menu to fit local tastes around the world. From 2002 to 2010, Burger King focused on young men (18-34). They offered bigger items, which sometimes had a lot of unhealthy fats. This hurt the company's money. Since 2011, Burger King has added new items and improved old ones. They also changed their packaging to appeal to more customers.
By the end of 2018, Burger King had 17,796 restaurants in 100 countries. Almost half of these are in the United States. Most Burger King restaurants (99.7%) are owned and run by private owners, called franchisees. Burger King has always used franchising to grow. The way they license their restaurants changes by region. Sometimes, a "master franchise" is in charge of selling licenses in a whole area. Burger King and its franchisees have sometimes had disagreements. In Australia, the Burger King restaurants are called Hungry Jack's. This is because another restaurant already had the "Burger King" name there.
Contents
How Burger King Started and Grew
The company that came before Burger King was called Insta-Burger King. It started in 1953 in Jacksonville, Florida. The founders, Keith J. Kramer and Matthew Burns, got the idea after visiting the first McDonald brothers' restaurant. They bought special cooking machines called "Insta-Broilers." These machines cooked burgers quickly from both sides. This idea was so good that all their franchised restaurants had to use them.
In 1959, the company had money problems. So, two of its restaurant owners from Miami, James McLamore and David R. Edgerton, bought it. They changed the company's name to Burger King. They ran the company for eight years and opened over 250 restaurants in the U.S. In 1967, they sold Burger King to the Pillsbury Company.
Changes and Challenges in the 1970s and 80s
Pillsbury tried to improve Burger King in the late 1970s and early 1980s. In 1978, they hired Donald N. Smith from McDonald's. He made big changes to how Burger King did business. This included new rules for franchisees, more menu items, and new restaurant designs. Smith left in 1980, and sales went down.
Norman E. Brinker then tried to make Burger King stronger against McDonald's. He started new ads that directly compared Burger King to its rivals. This began a period called the Burger wars. Brinker left in 1984. After these leaders left, Pillsbury stopped many of their changes. This slowed down Burger King's growth and sales dropped again.
New Owners and Difficult Times
In 1989, a British company called Grand Metropolitan bought Pillsbury. They tried to make Burger King profitable. New products and partnerships with The Walt Disney Company helped. But problems with its image and ads continued. In 1992, Hurricane Andrew badly damaged Burger King's main office.
After Grand Metropolitan, another company called Diageo owned Burger King. They didn't focus much on the brand. This caused many problems for Burger King restaurants. Some big franchisees even went out of business. By 2000, Diageo decided to sell the company because it was losing money.
Burger King in the 21st Century
In 2002, a group of investment companies led by TPG Capital bought Burger King for $1.5 billion. The new owners quickly worked to make the company better. They launched new ads, changed the menu, and updated restaurants. They also created new restaurant ideas like the BK Whopper Bar. These changes helped the company make more money.
However, the financial crisis of 2007–2010 made things harder for Burger King. Its value dropped, while McDonald's grew. In 2010, TPG sold Burger King to 3G Capital of Brazil for $3.26 billion. 3G Capital took Burger King off the stock market. This allowed them to focus on fixing the company without worrying about pleasing shareholders every day. In the U.S., Burger King fell to third place in sales behind McDonald's and Wendy's.
In 2014, 3G Capital announced plans to buy Tim Hortons, a Canadian coffee and doughnut chain. They wanted to merge it with Burger King. Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway helped with this deal. The two chains would stay separate but share resources. This merger created the third-largest fast food company in the world. The deal also caused some talk about "tax inversions." This is when a company moves its headquarters to a country with lower taxes.
In 2019, Burger King said it would close up to 250 less busy restaurants each year, starting in 2020. In 2021, they started testing a customer loyalty program called "Royal Perks."
After the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Burger King stopped its support for its Russian restaurants. However, the local Russian partner who runs 800 Burger King stores refused to close them.
In October 2023, Burger King announced a new store design called "The Sizzle." This plan will update existing restaurants inside and out. It will add more self-order kiosks, special pickup areas for mobile orders, and better drive-thru service.
How Burger King is Organized
Burger King Holdings is the main company for Burger King. It makes money from renting properties and selling food at company-owned restaurants. But a lot of its money comes from fees paid by franchisees. When 3G Capital bought Burger King, they changed the company's leaders.
Burger King has about 40 smaller companies around the world. These companies manage franchises, buy other businesses, and handle money matters. For example, Burger King Brands, Inc. takes care of all Burger King's trademarks and copyrights in the U.S. and Canada.
In 2011, about 90% of Burger King restaurants were owned by private franchisees. In North America, Burger King Corporation gives licenses to owners and manages the stores. In other countries, Burger King often works with partners. Or, it sells the rights to a "master franchise" for a whole area. This master franchise then sells licenses for new stores, trains staff, and makes sure standards are met.
In 2011, 3G Capital announced they would sell most of the company-owned restaurants to private owners. Their goal was to have 95% of restaurants owned by franchisees. By 2016, this number grew to 99.5%.
As the company that grants franchises, Burger King Holdings has many duties. It creates training programs and makes sure all restaurants look and operate the same. The company also develops new products. Burger King also approves suppliers and makes sure food safety rules are followed.
Burger King's main office used to be in a tall building near the Miami International Airport. In 2014, there was talk of moving the headquarters to Canada after the merger with Tim Hortons. This merger created Restaurant Brands International Inc.. In 2018, Burger King moved to a new, slightly smaller headquarters building in Miami.
Burger King Franchises
When Burger King started franchising in 1959, franchisees bought the right to open stores in a certain area. This gave Burger King Corporation very little control over its franchisees. This led to problems with food quality and restaurant appearance.
In the 1970s, these problems became bigger. Chart House, Burger King's largest franchisee, tried to buy Burger King several times. Pillsbury refused. This caused problems between them. Chart House later sold its Burger King restaurants.
In 1978, Donald N. Smith changed the franchise rules. New owners had to live close to their restaurants. This stopped big companies from owning many franchises. Franchisees also couldn't own other restaurant chains. This prevented them from taking money away from their Burger King stores. Smith also wanted Burger King Corporation to own new locations and rent them to franchisees. This would let the company take over struggling stores.
By 2001, the problems with its franchises were hurting Burger King's value. AmeriKing Inc., a large franchisee with almost 400 stores, went bankrupt in 2002. This made Diageo, the owner at the time, lower the selling price of Burger King. After the sale, the new CEO, Brad Blum, started a program to help struggling franchisees.
Some individual franchisees bought stores from AmeriKing. For example, Al Cabrera bought 130 stores for a very low price. His new company, Heartland Foods, fixed them up. By 2006, his company was worth a lot more money. Other buyers included NFL athletes Kevin Faulk, Marcus Allen, and Michael Strahan.
As part of 3G Capital's plan, Burger King decided to sell all its company-owned restaurants to private owners. They wanted to be 100% franchised by the end of 2013. This move helped the company make a lot more profit.
By the end of 2013, Burger King was the second-largest hamburger fast food chain in the world. It was behind McDonald's. By the end of 2014, Burger King was fourth in U.S. sales among food chains. Today, Burger King has over 12,000 stores worldwide.
In January 2024, Restaurant Brands International announced it would buy its largest franchisee, Carrols Restaurant Group. Carrols owned over 1,000 Burger King locations. The plan is to update many of these restaurants and then sell them back to other franchisees.
Burger King Around the World
Burger King opened its first restaurant outside the U.S. in Puerto Rico in 1963. Its first international restaurant was in Canada in 1969. Then came Australia in 1971 and Europe in 1975. In the 1980s, Burger King opened stores in many Asian countries like Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea. All Japanese locations closed in 2001 but Burger King returned to Japan in 2007. Burger King also expanded into Mexico and South America in the late 1970s and early 1980s. While McDonald's has more international locations, Burger King is the biggest chain in some countries like Mexico and Spain.
Burger King divides its international business into three parts: Middle East, Europe, and Africa (EMEA); Asia-Pacific (APAC); and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). In each area, Burger King works with other companies to open new restaurants.
Australia is the only country where Burger King doesn't use its own name. When Burger King came to Australia in 1971, another food shop already had the name. So, Burger King gave the Australian owner, Jack Cowin, a list of other names. Cowin chose "Hungry Jack's." After the trademark expired, Burger King tried to open stores under its own name in Australia. But they lost a lawsuit to Hungry Jack's. Now, Hungry Jack's is the only Burger King brand in Australia.
Burger King expects most of its future growth to come from other countries. They are especially focusing on India, China, and Japan. The company plans to add many new stores in these Asian countries. In India, Burger King faces a challenge because many people there don't eat beef. So, they offer chicken, mutton, and veggie sandwiches to fit local tastes.
In December 2020, Burger King India offered shares to the public for the first time. The shares became very popular and their price almost doubled on the first day.
Helping Communities
Burger King has two main charity groups. One is the Have It Your Way Foundation. It helps fight hunger, prevent diseases, and offers scholarships for college students in the U.S. The other is the McLamore Foundation, which also gives scholarships to students.
Across the U.S., Burger King and its franchisees support charities that help with childhood cancer. Each year, they have a fundraiser called "A Chance for Kids." Restaurants sell scratch cards for $1. Each card wins a prize, usually food or drinks. Some rare prizes include shopping trips. In the Northeast, Burger King works with the Boston Red Sox and the Jimmy Fund. In New York City, they work with the Burger King Children's Charities of Metro New York and the New York Yankees. Money raised in these areas goes to the Dana–Farber Cancer Institute.
Burger King's Food and Equipment
When Burger King first opened in 1953, it mostly sold hamburgers, fries, drinks, and milkshakes. In 1957, the Whopper sandwich was added. This quarter-pound burger was created to make Burger King different from other burger places. The Whopper became Burger King's most famous item. They even named some new restaurants "Whopper Bars."
In 1978, Donald Smith added the Burger King Specialty Sandwich line. This included chicken and fish sandwiches. These new items were meant to attract adults aged 18–34 who wanted higher quality food. Smith also added breakfast items. The Croissan'Wich was added in 1983. In 1985, they added more breakfast items like French toast sticks.
As Burger King grew around the world, it changed its menu for local tastes. For example, Whoppers in other countries might have teriyaki sauce or beetroot. Some places offer beer or halal/kosher products. Burger King also offers special, limited-time items. Some items, like the Texas Double Whopper, come back often. Others, like a meatloaf sandwich, didn't sell well and were removed.
In 1993, Burger King added a value menu with items for 99¢, $1.99, and $2.99. This was part of a plan to offer cheaper options. In 1998, they changed to a more standard value menu. In 2002 and 2006, they updated the value menu again, adding and removing items. To attract more adults, Burger King added new chicken products, salads, and coffee in 2003. Some new products, like the Enormous Omelet Sandwich, were criticized for being very large and unhealthy.
When 3G Capital bought the company in 2010, they wanted to change the menu. They wanted to move away from just focusing on men. In 2011, they improved their BK Chicken Tenders. Over the next year, they developed about 20 new products. These included new soft serve desserts, smoothies, and chicken strips. The Whopper also got a new type of cheese and packaging.
In 2015, Burger King's parent company said they would stop using chicken fed with certain antibiotics important for human health.
In 2019, Burger King released the "Impossible Whopper." This is a vegetarian burger made with a plant-based patty from Impossible Foods. In 2020, Burger King said it would remove artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives from the Whopper. They also announced a Whopper patty made from cows on a special diet to reduce methane.
In late 2021 and early 2022, Burger King said it would offer fewer value items. This was due to rising costs and to make drive-thru lines faster. In 2023, Burger King UK announced a Vegan Royale Bakon King, with vegan bacon and cheese.
Cooking Equipment
Burger King has always cooked its burgers by broiling them. The first machine was called an Insta-Broiler. It cooked 12 patties at once. When McLamore and Edgerton took over, they switched to an improved "Flame Broiler." This machine used moving chains and stationary burners. It broke down less often. Burger King used this type of broiler for 40 years.
Later, Burger King developed new broilers that could cook different items at different speeds. These new machines were put in all restaurants in 2008–2009. Along with them came new food-holding equipment. This equipment had a computer system to track cooked products. This helps ensure quality and saves money by predicting how much food is needed.
Burger King's Ads
Since 1954, Burger King has had many different advertising campaigns. In the 1970s, they had famous jingles like "Hold the pickles, hold the lettuce..." and slogans like "Have it your way." They also had a mascot called "the Burger King."
In 1981, Burger King made the first "attack ad" in fast food. It featured a young Sarah Michelle Gellar. The ad said Burger King burgers were bigger and tasted better than McDonald's. McDonald's was so upset they sued. From the 1980s to 2001, Burger King tried many ad agencies. Many of their campaigns didn't work well, like "Where's Herb?"
Burger King was one of the first companies to do "product tie-ins" with movies. In 1977, they partnered with George Lucas's Lucasfilm to promote Star Wars. They sold drink glasses with movie characters. This set a trend for the fast food industry. McDonald's later partnered with Disney, but in 1994, Disney switched to Burger King. They signed a deal for 10 movies, including The Lion King and Toy Story. In 1999, a partnership with Pokémon was hugely successful. However, two incidents with the Pokéball toy led to a recall.
After TPG Capital, L.P. bought Burger King in 2002, they wanted to fix the ads. They brought back the slogan "Have it your way." They hired a new ad agency, Crispin Porter + Bogusky (CP+B). CP+B was known for its edgy ads. They brought back the Burger King character, now called "the King." The King appeared in funny and sometimes strange ads. People even made internet memes about him.
CP+B also created new characters like the Subservient Chicken and the band Coq Roq. These were used in online ads. One successful promotion was a series of three video games for the Xbox 360. These games sold over 3.2 million copies. These ads helped Burger King make a lot of money.
But when the late-2000s recession hit, Burger King's sales went down. After 3G Capital bought the company in 2010, they ended the relationship with CP+B. They hired a new agency, McGarryBowen. This new agency stopped using "the King" in ads. They focused on showing the food and its ingredients.
In recent years, Burger King has made ads that playfully tease McDonald's. For example, "Scary Clown Night" offered a free Whopper to anyone dressed as a clown (like McDonald's mascot) on Halloween. Another ad, "Whopper Detour," told people to go to a McDonald's to get a cheap Whopper on their app.
In February 2019, Burger King launched an ad campaign called "Eat Like Andy." It showed old film footage of artist Andy Warhol eating a Whopper. They also sold an "Andy Warhol Mystery Box" with ketchup and a wig.
On March 8, 2021, Burger King UK posted a tweet for International Women's Day that said, "Women belong in the kitchen." This caused a lot of criticism for being sexist. Burger King UK quickly followed up with other tweets explaining they wanted to help more women become chefs. But many people only saw the first tweet. Burger King later deleted the tweet and apologized.
In late 2022, Burger King released the "Have it Your Way" commercials. These ads became very popular on social media because they were catchy and repetitive. They even made their way onto music streaming services.
Images for kids
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Former corporate headquarters in Miami-Dade County, Florida (now home to Lennar)
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Burger King Big Whopper meal (burgers wrapped)
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An example of the 20/20 concept interior at a Burger King in Cork, Ireland
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Burger King restaurant in Bulacan, Philippines
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Burger King restaurant in Leicester Square, London, England
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A Burger King in Oaxaca, Mexico
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Burger King located at Helsinki Central Station in Helsinki, Finland
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Burger King at the Skopje Airport, North Macedonia
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A Burger King in Zhengzhou, China
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The Burger King restaurant in Mattoon, Illinois, originally owned by the Hoots family.
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The Whopper sandwich, Burger King's signature product
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A meal including small French fries, a Whopper Jr., a drink, and packets of Heinz ketchup
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Food being prepared in a Burger King kitchen in Italy
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The Burger King "crown", worn by Nick Van Eede
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See also
In Spanish: Burger King para niños
- Drive-through
- Hungry Jack's, the Australian subsidiary for Burger King
- List of hamburger restaurants
- WhopperCoin
