They’ll be getting it their way.
Burger King is giving its signature Whopper a facelift for the first time in a decade, following complaints from its customers, the fast-food chain announced Thursday.
The Whopper, which Burger King co-founder James McLamore founded in 1956, will include a “more premium, better tasting bun” and a box for the sandwich to be served in, replacing the much-maligned paper wrapper that was seen to have crushed the sandwich
“Over the past several years, we’ve focused on strengthening our operations and modernizing our restaurants to build a more consistent foundation across the system,” Burger King US and Canada President Tom Curtis said in a statement.
“With that work well underway, we’re now in a position to thoughtfully elevate our core menu. The Whopper is an icon, so we didn’t set out to reinvent it. Instead, we elevated it based on direct Guest feedback.”
The burger joint said changes to the flame-grilled sandwich and its packaging will create a “higher-quality Whopper experience” elevated from the first bite to the last.
“So the Whopper being smushed, literally, I’ve heard it… and we’ve seen it,” Curtis told CNN. “(We) improved packaging that kind of holds it together.”
The burger will be topped with the usual freshly cut onions and tomatoes, crisp lettuce and tangy pickles, along with a “better-tasting mayo” to replace the current condiment.
“The creamier mayonnaise frankly just came from some franchisees who said they wanted to see a more premium mayonnaise. And then also upgrading and premium-izing the bun,” Curtis said.
The Burger King boss says he began taking calls from customers for feedback but was “careful” about any changes implemented, including to the beef patty, which would remain the same.
“You don’t want to just tear up the playbook and start all over,” he told the outlet. “It’s like we’re putting our famous iconic burger in a tuxedo instead of a leisure suit.”
The new burger will cost franchisees an extra $4,000, but corporate officials warned managers about increasing the prices as it could ward off customers currently exhausted by inflation prices.
Burger King management is hoping the investment in the “premium” ingredients will lead to additional sales.
The Whopper was inveted after the then-owners, David Edgerton and James McLamore, noticed a popular drive-in restaurant was advertising a big hamburger consisting of quarter pound hamburger patty on a big five-inch bun served with lettuce, tomatoes, mayonnaise, pickles, onions, and ketchup.
The two men enjoyed the meal and decided their Miami-area stores would benefit from a large burger and decided to name it the “Whopper” as it conveyed a big size.
“I suggested that we put signs, ‘Home Of The Whoppe’ under our Burger King name to indicate that our new product was the specialty of the house,” McLamore had said according to the company’s website. “We both agreed that this made a lot of sense.”
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