Restaurant Brands International (QSR) recently said that it planned a complete menu overhaul for Burger King.
Framing the mission with the catchy title "Reclaim the Flame," RBI will invest $400 million in the business over the next two years, including $150 million in advertising and digital investments to "Fuel the Flame" and $250 million for a "Royal Reset" to update its kitchens with new tech and equipment.
"This investment will work to enhance ongoing franchisee investments to modernize the Burger King restaurant portfolio, and when combined with our brand repositioning plan, menu enhancements and focus on operational excellence, will help drive our overarching goal of improving the guest experience and attracting more traffic back to the brand over time," RBI said in a news release on Sept. 9.
Despite its attempts to frame the overhaul in a cutesy way, Burger King clearly is struggling -- although technically, not in a financial sense. The chain's revenue has continued to increase over the years but in drips and drabs compared with its competitors.
Burger King definitely wants to attract more Gen Z customers, which could explain why it's gone for some pretty wild options in some markets to attract attention (see oversized chicken patties, odd Whopper concepts, and some really racy promotions).
Meantime, the chain is still leaning on making lots of new things, and the latest should get some people's attention.
What's New at Burger King?
Burger King Japan on Sept. 14 tweeted an image of a new month-long promotion it's calling Unsung Heroes.
The three new sandwiches are called the Super Spicy Fish Burger, the Super Chicken Cheese Burger, and the Super Fish Cheese Burger and will be sold for one month, Sept. 16 through Oct. 16.
The Super Spicy Fish Burger is a fried fish patty topped with cheddar cheese in both sliced and shredded form, topped with a spicy sauce that BK says is a blend of chili peppers, garlic, and soybean sauce. This sandwich will sell for 350 yen ($2.44 U.S.).
The second and third sandwiches, the Super Chicken Cheese Burger and the Super Fish Cheese Burger, are made for the extreme cheese fanatic.
Each has a slice of regular cheddar, red cheddar (what makes this red is actually a mystery), shredded cheese blended with gouda, mozzarella, and a special cheese sauce. These two will go for 410 yen ($2.86 U.S.) each.
Activision Blizzard Promotion
This also overlaps another promotion the chain is doing, in partnership with videogame developer Activision Blizzard (ATVI) as a tie-in for the company's "Diablo" franchise.
Called the Diablo Double Garlic Cheeseburger, the special sandwich is a promotion for Activision Blizzard's free-to-play mobile title "Diablo Immortal," which caused quite a bit of fuss when it came out this summer.
Burger King went all out for the event by building a special area in Tokyo's Akihabara district to look like a scene from the videogame and holding a lottery for free t-shirts.
That promotion lasts until Sept. 29, but be prepared if you plan to check it out -- the cheeseburger itself costs 1,390 yen ($9.69 U.S.), so you're definitely paying extra for all that fancy branding.
