Burger King is taking a big bite out of McDonald’s business.
After McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski appeared to struggle to take a bite of the chain’s new Big Arch burger in a promotional video that went viral for all the wrong reasons, Burger King’s president swooped in to promote a revamped Whopper – and it appears to be paying off.
Since March, when the videos took off online, growth in weekly visits to Burger King has begun to far outpace McDonald’s on a yearly basis, according to Placer.ai data shared with The Post.
For the week of March 2, when both the Big Arch and the new Whopper debuted on menus, weekly visits to Burger King jumped 7.4% higher than the same time last year. McDonald’s were just 2.2% higher, according to Placer.ai’s figures.
Over the next three weeks, Burger King saw traffic grow 5.4%, 2.2% and 3.2% – while McDonald’s suffered declines of 0.2%, 2.2% and 1.3%, respectively.
“We believe the war and rising gas prices are partly to blame [for slowing McDonald’s sales], contributing to overall US same-store sales growth slowing from 3% in early March to flat year over year in the last three weeks,” David Palmer, restaurant analyst at Evercore, wrote in a note.
“That said, it is also true that McDonald’s has been underperforming peers such as Burger King in the wake of viral ‘CEO burger-bites’ videos and the subsequent taste tests of the Whopper vs. the Big Arch burger,” Palmer added.
Placer.ai noted that shifts in foot traffic can be tied to many different factors, including heightened economic uncertainty and lower consumer confidence, as well as holiday store closures and weather conditions.
Shares in McDonald’s are down 7.4% over the past month, while Restaurant Brands – which owns Burger King, Tim Hortons and Popeyes – is up 4.9% over the same period.
McDonald’s did not immediately respond to noti.group’s request for comment.
In a February video on social media, Kempczinski appeared reluctant to take a bite of the Big Arch, which he repeatedly referred to as a “product,” before turning the burger to the camera to show off a comically small bite.
The super-sized burger is a limited-time offering that launched on menus March 1. The 14-ounce burger features two quarter-pound beef patties, three slices of melted white cheddar cheese, crispy onions, slivered raw onions, lettuce, pickles and a new special sauce.
As social media users mocked Kempczinski, questioning whether he even eats McDonald’s food, Burger King President Tom Curtis responded with a TikTok video taking a massive bite of the chain’s new-and-improved Whopper with the caption, “Thought we’d replay this.”
The updated Whopper – which hit menus just a few days before the Big Arch – includes a new bun and creamier mayo and comes in a box rather than a paper wrapper to avoid crushing the burger. It’s the first time the Whopper has been upgraded in a decade.
Like many other fast-food chains, McDonald’s has been struggling to win over cash-strapped customers, especially as tariffs and the war in Iran dampen consumer confidence.
It has focused on value offerings and specialty drinks, with plans to add a new line of beverages – including a creamy vanilla cold brew coffee – to menus soon, along with an under-$3 Menu.
“This menu — similar to Taco Bell’s successful Luxe Menu — is designed to provide low entry price items on an a la carte basis (unbundled). This may help address McDonald’s traffic issues with low income consumers,” Evercore’s Palmer wrote in his note.
“In our view, McDonald’s new value strategy is not a ‘game changer’ for competitors with momentum like Restaurant Brands’ Burger King or Yum! Brands’ Taco Bell,” he added.
“However, we believe it will help McDonald’s traffic over time, especially when combined with other initiatives.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
