Is burger king's fast food philosophy failing

NEWS LESSONS / Is Burger King’s fast food philosophy failing? / Advanced•P

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Is Burger King’s fast food philosophy failing? Level 3 Advanced

Warmer1 Name as many fast food outlets as you can in one minute. Please write your answers inside the burger.a.

How many of these restaurants sell burgers and fries?b.

How many of them sell salads and other healthy options?c.

Write the words from the article into the gaps. The paragraph numbers are given to help you.

___________________ are people or companies that have the license to sell a particular type of goods or 1. services. (para 1)

A ___________________ is a system of beliefs that influences someone’s decisions and behaviour. (para 1)2.

___________________ are people who are eating a meal at a restaurant. (para 3)3.

When you are ___________________ something, you are making a choice or decision from a range of 4. possibilities. (para 4)

When you are ___________________ someone, you are making a legal claim against them, usually to get 5. money from them because they have done something bad to you. (para 4)

If a company has ___________________, it has developed new products or activities in addition to the ones 6. already provided. (para 5)

___________________ are shops or places where a particular product is sold. (para 5)7.

Someone who is ___________________ has doubts about something that other people think is true or right. 8. (para 8)

A ___________________ market is one that is able to produce good results. (para 8)9.

An ___________________ market is one that is just beginning or starting to become noticed. (para 10)10.

outlets sceptical fertile emerging diversified

philosophy opting for diners suing franchisees

Key words2

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Burger King sales fall againAndrew Clark in New York 4 February, 2010

The world’s second-largest hamburger chain, Burger King, is struggling to control a seemingly unstoppable erosion in sales and is under fire over an unimaginative menu, conflicts with franchisees and a ‘narrow philosophy’ of sticking to flame-grilled meat sandwiches and fries.

While its larger rival, McDonald’s, has prospered from families ‘trading down’ in the recession, Burger King has been floundering. For the third consecutive quarter, like-for-like sales in Burger King’s 12,078 restaurants were down with a drop of 2% globally and 3.3% in North America.

Its customers, particularly in the US, tend to come from poorer economic groups, including a large proportion of black or Hispanic diners, who have been hit particularly badly by unemployment. Burger King’s shares have slumped by 19% over the last year, while McDonald’s stock has surged by 12%.

Faced with tough economic conditions, Burger King has opted for value. In Britain, it offers cheeseburger meals for £1.99 while in the US it has been selling double cheeseburgers for $1 each – a strategy that has infuriated Burger King franchisees who are suing the corporation for forcing them to sell burgers at a loss. The National Franchisee Association, which represents 80% of the firm’s 850 US restaurant owners, accused it of forcing price cuts ‘down the system’s throat’.

And while McDonald’s has diversified into salads, paninis and cappuccinos in the hope of satisfying so-called ‘soccer moms’, the Burger King menu remains firmly rooted in burgers, fries and fizzy drinks. Rather than broadening its customer base, Burger King has focused on squeezing more out of the chain’s so-called ‘superfans’ who visit outlets more than nine times each month.

“Burger King has adopted a narrow philosophy while McDonald’s is going after everyone,” says Ron Paul, president of a food industry consultancy, Technomic. “I don’t think they’ve been as strong at

launching new products. They haven’t been able to break into the breakfast market – McDonald’s, kind of, owns the breakfast space.”

The picture is better in Britain, which has been among the few bright spots for Burger King. Faced with weak sales back in 2006, Burger King invested $3m to “fortify” its UK operation and a marketing push has since paid off. A spokesman said new products such as Angus Burgers and the spiced-up Angry Whopper have played well, “Comparable sales trends have been favourable even amidst these difficult economic times as consumers continue to seek our quality affordable food offerings.”

But on Wall Street, Burger King has been losing support from investors since a profits warning last April. “There’s a lot of discontent, a lot of sceptical investors out there,” said Steve West, a restaurants analyst, who points out that the US ought to be a fertile market. “Americans, at the peak of the boom in 2006, spent almost half of their food dollars in restaurants. We’re lazy, we don’t know how to cook. We eat out a lot.”

In an effort to improve sales, Burger King has used a grinning, crowned character called ‘the King’ in its adverts. But the Wall Street Journal remarked this week that while some people found this “cool”, others thought it “creepy”.

Burger King is also introducing a bold ‘industrial look’ for its stores with corrugated metal, brick, wood and concrete, flame chandeliers and liquid crystal menus. As part of an effort to tap emerging markets, the first Burger King in Russia opened last month.

In a few locations, such as Miami’s South Beach, Burger King has gone into the bar business by offering beer alongside burgers. And it has made some modest moves to provide healthier items – Burger King added apple chunks to its US children’s menu last year and introduced chicken with lower sodium. But critics say these moves are coming too late.

“Burger King aren’t really doing anything wrong,” says Paul. “It’s more a matter that McDonald’s, in particular, seems to be doing everything right.”

© Guardian News & Media 2010First published in The Guardian, 04/02/10

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Comprehension check3Choose the correct answer according to the information in the article.

Burger King’s sales have ...1. a. … fallen more in Europe than in the USA. b. … fallen more in the USA than in Europe. c. … fallen in Europe but remained steady in the USA.

In the USA, many people who dine in fast food restaurants ...2. a. … are unemployed. b. … come from poorer economic groups. c. … are immigrants.

Burger King has been concentrating its sales drives on ...3. a. … ‘soccer moms’. b. … blacks and Hispanics. c. … ‘superfans’.

Burger King franchisees are angry because ...4. a. … Burger King’s low prices are forcing them to sell burgers at a loss. b. … McDonalds is forcing them out of the market. c. … they have lost sales due to the recession.

In Britain, Burger King has ...5. a. … increased prices in an attempt to go up-market. b. … broken into the breakfast market. c. … launched new successful products.

Burger King’s crowned character ‘the King’ has been ...6. a. … a moderate success. b. … scaring children away from restaurants. c. … removed from its marketing campaigns.

Language: Opposites4Find words in the article that have the opposite meaning to those in the table.

+positive

-negative

prosperslumpworsedark

strong

unfavourableunaffordableloss

right


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Planning and presentation5You have been asked to suggest new products for Burger King in order to improve sales and increase their customer base. Write your notes in the table below and then present your results, plus ideas for a marketing concept, to the class.

product name target customers ingredients packaging price

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Webquest 6Compare Burger King’s ‘the King’ character with McDonald’s ‘Ronald McDonald’ character.

http://www.bk.com/en/us/company-info/index.htmlhttp://www.ronald.com/http://www.aboutmcdonalds.com/mcd.html

What can you find out about the two companies’ business philosophies from their websites?


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2 Key words

franchisees1. philosophy2. diners3. opting for4. suing5. diversified6. outlets7. sceptical8. fertile 9. emerging10.

3 Comprehension check

b1. b2. c3. a4. c5. a6.

4 Language: Opposites

+positive

-negative

prosper floundersurge slumpbetter worsebright darkstrong weakfavourable unfavourableaffordable unaffordableprofit lossright wrong

KEY

Is burger king's fast food philosophy failing

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