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1. NEWS LESSONS / Is Burger King’s fast food philosophy failing? / Advanced
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© Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2010
Is Burger King’s fast food philosophy failing?
Level 3 Advanced
Warmer
1
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 words
2
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________

2. NEWS LESSONS / Is Burger King’s fast food philosophy failing? / Advanced
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© Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2010
Is Burger King’s fast food philosophy failing?
Level 3 Advanced
Burger King sales fall again
Andrew 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 2010
First published in The Guardian, 04/02/10
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3. NEWS LESSONS / Is Burger King’s fast food philosophy failing? / Advanced
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© Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2010
Is Burger King’s fast food philosophy failing?
Level 3 Advanced
Comprehension check
3
Choose 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: Opposites
4
Find words in the article that have the opposite meaning to those in the table.
+
positive
-
negative
prosper
slump
worse
dark
strong
unfavourable
unaffordable
loss
right

4. NEWS LESSONS / Is Burger King’s fast food philosophy failing? / Advanced
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© Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2010
Is Burger King’s fast food philosophy failing?
Level 3 Advanced
Planning and presentation
5
You 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
1
2
3
4
Webquest
6
Compare Burger King’s ‘the King’ character with McDonald’s ‘Ronald McDonald’ character.
http://www.bk.com/en/us/company-info/index.html
http://www.ronald.com/
http://www.aboutmcdonalds.com/mcd.html
What can you find out about the two companies’ business philosophies from their websites?

5. NEWS LESSONS / Is Burger King’s fast food philosophy failing? / Advanced
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© Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2010
Is Burger King’s fast food philosophy failing?
Level 3 Advanced
2 Key words
franchisees
1.
philosophy
2.
diners
3.
opting for
4.
suing
5.
diversified
6.
outlets
7.
sceptical
8.
fertile
9.
emerging
10.
3 Comprehension check
b
1.
b
2.
c
3.
a
4.
c
5.
a
6.
4 Language: Opposites
+
positive
-
negative
prosper flounder
surge slump
better worse
bright dark
strong weak
favourable unfavourable
affordable unaffordable
profit loss
right wrong
KEY