Johannesburg - Burger King SA is seemingly trying to take a bite out of McDonald’s SA’s Big Mac Day by launching a promotion of its own.
In a statement issued to coincide with the McDonald’s offer, Burger King - franchised in SA by Grand Parade Investments (GPI) - says it will “swap out disappointing lunches for a Whopper at no cost to consumers”.
This promotion will run for 2 separate days, the first being Tuesday. Tuesday is also Big Mac Day at McDonald’s - a promotion that sees the fast food outlet offer a Big Mac Medium Meal for R21.
However, this is only while stocks last, and is limited to 1 000 a store from 10.30am.
In its swap-out statement, Burger King SA says it is encouraging the existing practice of sharing images of food, but with a twist: only images of simple and unpalatable meals will be considered for a Whopper voucher.
Burger King launched in SA in 2013 and, although it is currently expanding its footprint, has been battling to get people to spend in its stores.
Read also: Burger King shakes off declines at store level
Average monthly store revenues dropped from R1 million last year to R800 000 in the year to June, which the company attributed to consumers coming under pressure because of the weak economy and rising prices.
Burger King’s total annual revenue for the year came in at R485.2 million, representing an increase of 56 percent on R307.8 million the year before.
In the last full year, Burger King made a R30 million loss, although this is half of what 2015’s loss was. GPI has also taken on more debt to fund its Burger King expansion.
It had 62 outlets at year end.
Marketing manager Ezelna Jones says: “South Africa will be the first Burger King internationally to reward consumers who receive simple or disappointing meals for lunch.”
She adds Burger King has coined the term Whopper Envy, which is when “someone near you is eating a Whopper and you are not”.
IOL