Burger King Brings Back The Big King

Late nights just got better for students taking online culinary courses. Burger King has re-introduced a Big Mac look-a-like to its menu to boost revenue. Lagging sales across the board prompted the world’s third-largest fast food chain to revisit the selling power of the Big King. The burger features two fire-grilled beef patties, American cheese, Thousand Island dressing, iceberg lettuce, onions, pickles and tomatoes, all at 540 calories. To make it even more comparable to the Big Mac, Burger King also added an extra layer of bread in the middle.

The Big King  first made its appearance on the Burger King menu in the 1990s. The previous version did not have the middle bun and was only released in select regions of America.

This blatant copying of their primary rival’s iconic burger is the latest in a string of exceedingly aggressive marketing tactics aimed at McDonald’s Co. In the past, Burger King has attacked the No. 1 global fast food chain. From the poking fun at the size of McDonald’s burgers, keeping later store hours to get late-night business, to the addition of “satisfries” and other new items on the menu, Burger King is showing how badly it wants to be on top.

But is all the hassle worth it? The moves were made to boost slumping revenue returns that have been hurting Burger King since 2003, which many contribute to a change in management. A deeply flawed marketing strategy has also been part of the problem. With the appearance of the Burger King mascot in 2003, ultra expensive gourmet burgers in 2009 , the fake Whopper discontinuation and controversial advertisements, Burger King alienated its core American demographic. Last quarter, the chain reported that it dropped .3 percent in U.S. sales despite the marketing ploys.

Scott Hume, editor of the BurgerBusiness blog, predicted  that Burger King will push a massive marketing campaign to establish the burger as an entirely separate entity from the Big Mac.

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