Fast Food Franchise Round-Up

Date AddedAugust 22, 2011 05:53:06 PM

Ever wonder how your favorite fast food restaurants stack up against each other? Many of us have a favorite stop for fries, burgers, shakes and more. While franchises like McDonalds and Subway have experienced significant gains, Burger King has seen a decline in revenue and recently announced the retirement of its King mascot. Fast food franchise competition has heated up in recent years, as the battle to survive during the shaky economy has sparked numerous marketing campaigns, reduced cost menus and the expansion ofmenu options. Controversial initiatives to ban toys with kid’s meals, eliminate trans fat and post nutritional information on store menus has spurred a health revolution in a once guilty pleasure paradise of fast food chains. With coffee shops like Starbucks entering the breakfast and lunch market, McDonalds and Subway were among the first franchises to counter with offering a variety of coffee drinks and healthy breakfast alternatives. Burger King countered much later with adding to its breakfast line, and struggles to catch up to its former neck-and-neck rank with McDonalds. It may be too soon to disregard Burger King as a force in the fast food franchise world: the company has time to bounce back from a delay in marketing. The franchise recently announced plans to offer a California Whopper, which will include guacamole. Plus, when it comes to America’s obsession over where to find the tastiest french fries, no argument is complete without the old fashioned McDonalds versus Burger King debate. Burger King has successfully maintained the essence of fast food: serving food that tastes great, but may not be the best for regular consumption. While eating at any fast food restaurant on a regular basis is not highly recommended, Burger King’s slip in rankings is the result of the growth of other franchises, not necessarily complete failure on the franchise. Within the next few quarters, we should see perhaps another shift in fast food franchise rankings, but for now, it is a game of who can adapt, rather than brand loyalty.Vanessa Connolly, Writer, FindTheBest