Burger King’s newest marketing campaign, a $1 million contest to select the next version of the Whopper, is not all that different than many of its other campaigns of recent vintage: It relies heavily on its signature sandwich.
The Miami-based fast-food burger chain has long featured the Whopper as a central character in much of its marketing efforts, perhaps more aggressively than any other chain. But that focus has increased in recent years, as the company has sought to rebuild market share lost coming out of the pandemic, and following failed efforts such as the Ch’King chicken sandwich.
“When we really focus on the Whopper,” Josh Kobza, CEO of Burger King owner Restaurant Brands International, said recently, “we tend to do well.”
The Million Dollar Whopper effort is designed to generate social buzz, and sales in the process, while building membership in the company’s Royal Perks loyalty program.
In the contest, customers were able to propose their own ideas for the company’s sandwich.
More than 1 million people entered the contest. But entering was easier for members, and so the effort helped generate membership.
The three finalists include a Fried Pickle Ranch Whopper, with pickle ranch sauce, lettuce, fried pickles, bacon, and Swiss cheese; a Maple Bourbon BBQ Whopper, with maple bourbon barbecue sauce, crispy onions, jalapenos, maple candied bacon and American cheese; and a Mexican Street Corn Whopper featuring creamy street corn spread, lettuce, tomato, tortilla chips and spicy queso.
The three Whoppers will be available on the company’s menu on Thursday and customers will be able to vote on the winner. That winner will receive $1 million. Second place will win $200,000, while third place will get $100,000.
“I think the big goal is to drive trial of the Whopper and drive traffic into the restaurant,” Burger King North America Chief Marketing Officer Pat O’Toole said. “Buzz is going to be one of the inputs that goes into that ultimately happening.”
The Fried Pickle Ranch Whopper, an effort to cater to the population of consumers that apparently can’t get enough of the pickle, could also lead to another product, Fried Pickle Fries. Burger King has historically taken various products and turned them into fries, such as Chicken Fries and more recently Churro Fries.
“We have some equity on fry-ifying things,” O’Toole said.
Each of the Whopper versions takes advantage of some current food trends. But those trends have to be popular enough to fuel sales at a 6,800-unit restaurant chain.
“Can you make them elevate the Whopper equity, but then can you make them interesting enough that people want to come in,” he said. “Being on-trend was important, but not too far forward. We wanted to make sure that we weren’t niche. And we hit the mark pretty well on these.”
For Burger King, a winning marketing campaign is key as its sales have taken a sluggish turn this year thanks to a difficult operating environment. Same-store sales last quarter declined 0.4% in North America, slightly behind rivals McDonald’s and Wendy's.
Sales have recovered in October, executives have said, behind a different promotion, the Addams Family Menu, featuring a selection of items including another version of Burger King’s signature burger, the purple bun Wednesday’s Whopper.
The chain hopes that the Million Dollar Whopper promotion will keep that momentum going. The company is giving out 1 million $1 Whopper offers as part of the promotion.
“We know we have an amazing burger,” O’Toole said. “We did a great job of getting the Whopper back, top-of-mind in the U.S.”
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