Burger King’s New Bacon Sundae: 500 Calories, 18 Grams of Fat, 61 Grams of SugarJune 15th, 2012 - Jill Ettinger
Despite the biggest menu changes in Burger King’s history recently launched by the chain in efforts to provide healthier options, the Home of the Whopper has announced a summer dessert menu item that’s anything but healthy: a bacon sundae. Read More:Burger King’s New Bacon Sundae: 500 Calories, 18 Grams of Fat, 61 Grams of SugarMcDonald’s Announces 10-Year Plan to Better Treatment of PigsJune 5th, 2012 - Jill Ettinger
2012 is looking to be a banner year for pigs, or at least for their great-great-great-grandpiglets. In February, McDonald’s announced it would work with its suppliers to phase out the highly criticized use of gestation crates for pregnant pigs. Read More:McDonald’s Announces 10-Year Plan to Better Treatment of PigsBurger King’s Whopper Announcement: Cage-Free Eggs & Pork By 2017April 28th, 2012 - Jill Ettinger
Earlier this week, Burger King announced major shifts in its egg and pig products, stating that the company will be sourcing only from cage-free suppliers by 2017 as it becomes the first major fast-food chain to make such a commitment. Read More:Burger King’s Whopper Announcement: Cage-Free Eggs & Pork By 2017Burger King’s ‘Healthy’ Menu Expansion Might Also Stretch Your WaistlineApril 7th, 2012 - Jill Ettinger
Looking to pull itself out of its number three ranking behind fast food chains McDonald’s and Wendy’s, Burger King has launched its biggest menu expansion in nearly 60 years. And it’s pulling in major promotional help from celebrities including soccer star David Beckham, late-night host Jay Leno, actress Salma Hayek, musician Mary J. Blige, actress Sofia Vergara and Aerosmith front-man/American Idol judge, Steven Tyler. Read More:Burger King’s ‘Healthy’ Menu Expansion Might Also Stretch Your WaistlineThe King Is Dead: Burger King Trades in Royalty for A Healthier ImageAugust 23rd, 2011 - Jill Ettinger
The V for Vendetta-esque scary-smile masked king that’s come to represent fast food chain Burger King has officially retired, according to a statement issued by the company last week. The decision comes in an effort to put more focus on a new line of healthier items leading the fall menu lineup. Read More:The King Is Dead: Burger King Trades in Royalty for A Healthier ImageBuild a Healthy, Organic Breakfast SandwichJuly 23rd, 2010 - Barbara Feiner
“Healthy” and “breakfast sandwich” tend to be an oxymoron, especially when you review popular fast-food menu items:
By comparison, today’s recipe for a Spicy Egg, Turkey Bacon & Cheese Breakfast Muffin contains only 226 calories, 6 g fat, 15 mg cholesterol and 534 mg sodium. The lean protein (17 g), high-fiber carbohydrates and healthy fats—an ideal nutritional trifecta—will leave you feeling satisfied, with fewer cravings throughout the day. Substitute turkey bacon for its high-fat pork cousin, says exercise physiologist Bob Greene, Oprah Winfrey’s personal trainer and author of several books, including The Best Life Diet Cookbook. He also forsakes egg yolks and cooks with egg whites, which have no fat or cholesterol and half the calories. The recipe’s prep time is 10 minutes, and all of the ingredients should be available at a well-stocked natural and organic food store. Spicy Egg, Turkey Bacon & Cheese Breakfast MuffinMakes 2 servings 1 cup (8 ounces) egg whites
Recipe and photo courtesy of Better’n Eggs/ARA Read More:Build a Healthy, Organic Breakfast SandwichOh, Puke…December 27th, 2008 - Barbara Feiner
Yeah, that’s what all women want: a suave guy who smells like a Whopper. “There is nothing new about linking food with romance in ads—especially desserts and diet food for women, beer for men— but the Flame campaign derives some of its humor by subverting this connection,” says Josh Lauer, PhD, a University of New Hampshire communication professor. Dr. Lauer isn’t sure whether the fast-food chain’s viral marketing campaign for the char-broiled (half-baked?) fragrance will be successful. “Ultimately, the fragrance is beside the point,” he says. “The publicity associated with the humor and absurdity of it is an end in itself.” He suspects Burger King, the second largest fast-food hamburger restaurant behind McDonald’s, is responding to intense competition. Earlier this year, the company issued a mandate requiring its franchises to remain open until 2 a.m. in an effort to attract late-night and after-party customers with the munchies. “The Flame fragrance campaign is presumably aimed at younger male customers who enjoy the King character’s creepy irony as a corporate anti-mascot,” Dr. Lauer says. “The appeal of such promotions is that they cut through advertising clutter by offering novelty and entertainment rather than a conventional one-sided advertising message,” he adds. More importantly, such promotions are viral, rapidly passed among friends online. “In an ad-saturated environment, word-of-mouth promotion may be more persuasive because it is rooted in the trust and authenticity of real personal relationships,” Dr. Lauer says. “Even better than product placements, in which brands are embedded in entertainment content, word-of-mouth marketing inserts a brand directly into conversation among friends. Viral marketing campaigns are successful when they inspire thousands of positive, admiring conversations about one’s brand.” What’s next? Erotic onion-ring massage oil? From Our Organic Blog
Photo courtesy of Burger King Read More:Oh, Puke…A Mountain of Meat & CheeseJuly 6th, 2006 - Barbara Feiner
The release promotes the new BK Stacker Sandwich (above): two, three or four hamburger patties “stacked high between a sesame seed bun with equal slices of melted American cheese and up to eight slices of crispy bacon, smothered in original creamy, savory BK Stacker Sauce for the ultimate sandwich helping. The bigger the burger ordered, the more layers of bacon and cheese.” Customers can order the:
“The BK Stacker is simple and built with the very ingredients our restaurant guests love best—meat, cheese and bacon,” notes Denny Marie Post, Burger King’s senior vice president and chief concept officer, in the release. “We’re satisfying the serious meat lovers by leaving off the produce and letting them decide exactly how much meat and cheese they can handle.” Of course, Burger King is enticing kids to order this “produce-free” behemoth through a series of TV ads featuring a crew of miniature construction workers that “diligently stacks meat, cheese, bacon and BK Stacker Sauce.” If that’s not enough, “2.5″ collectible figurines of some of the most memorable characters from the BK Stackers television ads can be purchased online…Fans can purchase a set of three figurines, including Vin the Foreman, the Kid and the Cheese Welder.” For parents who promote organic living and healthy eating, this is yet another example of how fast-food companies and advertising agencies pander to kids without any regard for their health. It’s irresponsible at a time when childhood obesity is epidemic. Read More:A Mountain of Meat & Cheese |
Here’s something I hope you didn’t find in your Christmas stocking: Burger King’s “Flame,” billed as “a body spray of seduction, with a hint of broiled meat.” 
If you’re wondering why Americans are overweight, check out the press release I received this morning from the folks at Burger King. The headline reads: “Guests Invited to Pile on Meat, Cheese & Bacon—Hold the Produce.”
