Burger King

Burger King was born in 1954 when James McLamore and David Edgerton opened a single restaurant in Miami, Florida, with a simple idea: grill burgers over an open flame instead of a flat top. That first Whopper, introduced in 1957, cost 37 cents. The chain grew fast through franchising, and by 1967 it had 274 locations before being bought by Pillsbury. Ownership later passed to Grand Metropolitan, then Diageo, then a private equity group led by Texas Pacific Group in 2002. In 2014, 3G Capital merged Burger King with Canadian coffee chain Tim Hortons to form Restaurant Brands International, which also owns Popeyes and Firehouse Subs.

Today, Burger King operates more than 19,000 restaurants in over 100 countries. The brand’s flame-grilled cooking method remains its signature, producing a distinct smoky flavor that sets it apart from competitors. The Whopper is still the flagship, but the menu has expanded to include Chicken Fries, the Impossible Whopper (a plant-based option launched in 2019), Original Chicken Sandwich, and a range of breakfast items, sides, and desserts. The chain’s “Have It Your Way” slogan, introduced in 1974, promised customers they could customize their orders, a concept that drove loyalty long before digital kiosks made it standard.

Burger King has a reputation for bold, sometimes controversial marketing. In 2009, the “Whopper Sacrifice” Facebook app offered a free Whopper for deleting ten friends, which Facebook shut down for violating privacy rules. The 2020 “Moldy Whopper” campaign showed a Whopper decomposing over 34 days to prove the absence of artificial preservatives, drawing both praise and criticism. More recently, the brand has focused on store remodeling through its “Reclaim the Flame” program, AI-driven drive-thru ordering, and a partnership with Krispy Kreme to sell donuts in select U.S. locations. Despite intense competition from McDonald’s and Wendy’s, Burger King remains the second-largest hamburger chain in the world by number of outlets.[edit]