Despite the millions of Whoppers sold each and every year, not every item introduced
by Burger King has proven to be a hit.
In fact, some have been spectacular failures.
These are the biggest flops in Burger King history.
In 2015, Burger King executives decided to celebrate Halloween by introducing a spooky
new spin on their classic Whopper: the Halloween Whopper, which boasted a horrifying dyed-black
bun.
But that wasn't all, customers who tried the novelty burger got quite the surprise when
they hit the bathroom and discovered an unexpected side effect: it had turned their bowel movements
green.
As reports of green poop flooded social media, the burger became less known for its Halloween
theme than it did for its colorful after-effects.
The question people began to ask was why a black bun would turn excrement green and not
black?
Gastroenterologist Dr. Ian Lustbader offered an explanation, telling CBS News that the
blame laid with the food coloring used to turn the bun black.
Food coloring that isn't entirely absorbed by food material in the gut will pass through
the digestive tract.
Because Burger King already adds dyes to its regular buns, those existing dyes combined
with the new black dye, and then mixed with the stomach's yellow-green bile, resulting
in the now-legendary green poop.
Due to the understandable negative buzz around this whole affair, Burger King declined to
scare up the Halloween Whopper the following year.
Can you blame them?
Never ones to miss an opportunity to snag a share of the market, Burger King took a
page out of Taco Bell's book in 2016, when it introduced the Whopperito.
This new menu item contained all the stuff crammed into a traditional Whopper, but instead
of a bun, the whole thing was wrapped up in a tortilla.
The other big change was that the usual ketchup, mustard and mayonnaise condiments were substituted
with cheesy queso sauce.
Was it a good idea?
Well, no.
Certainly not according to Newsweek, which viciously lambasted the Whopperito as being,
in their words, "as disgusting as it looks."
At the time, however, Burger King North America president Alex Macedo thought they were really
onto something.
He told Business Insider:
"We know Tex-Mex is growing a lot...and there are not that many national chains that sell
burritos.
For us, a burrito works well because we get a vast majority of our sales through the drive-thru,
and this is something that's portable."
Sadly, Burger King's attempt to please both burger fans and burrito fans ended up pleasing
neither, and the company ultimately bid adios to the Whopperito.
"I want 30 sliders, five french fries and four large cherry cokes."
"I want the same except make mine diet cokes."
In the 1980s, Burger King had apparently grown envious of the success that White Castle had
been experiencing with its mini-sized burgers, and saw an opportunity to grab a piece of
the action.
The result was Burger Bundles, which were basically a Burger King take on sliders, and
were marketed by the company as the perfect grab-and-go snack for eating on the run.
Unfortunately, when it came to broiling the small burgers, there was one little problem,
the patties were so small they had a tendency to slip through the broiler grates and were
constantly getting ruined.
The teeny little burgers were later discontinued, leaving White Castle as the true kings of
undersized burgers.
Burger King's Burger Bundles may have died off, but the idea for tiny hamburgers didn't.
That became apparent in 2008 when the chain introduced BK Burger Shots, which were identical
to their predecessors in every way other than one: the buns were attached to each other,
resulting in small conjoined hamburgers, kind of like the bundles, but even more bundled.
Burger Shots were billed as a "limited-time offer" in certain US locations as a test.
The move reportedly came after Burger King successfully launched the same product in
restaurants throughout the United Arab Emirates, called Burger Buddies, which were sold in
packs of six.
But Burger Shots didn't last long.
The main reason for the product's failure was likely the bizarre advertising campaign
used to sell them.
One commercial in particular was creepy, bordering on outright disturbing.
"Don't go to bed before the king."
Doesn't exactly make you hungry, does it?
In 1992, Burger King executives had the notion that classing up the joint would be a surefire
way to bring in more customers.
As a result, the chain began offering table service at its restaurants each day between
4 p.m. and 8 p.m., with servers bringing meals right to the table…at a slower pace than
usual.
There was, however, a hidden agenda lurking behind Burger King's table service: Dinner
Baskets.
These all-in-one meals were served in baskets, came in a handful of varieties, and offered
the option to substitute a baked potato for fries along with coleslaw or a side salad.
Burger King spokesman Michael Evans said at the time:
"With the table service and new dinner entrees, we are reaching out to a consumer segment
that may not have before come to a fast-food restaurant."
Unsurprisingly, neither Dinner Baskets nor table service were widely embraced by customers,
who tended to go to fast food restaurants for, well, fast food.
They didn't last long.
Yes, the Super Seven Incher is called that on purpose, and yes, Burger King really was
trying to make the joke you're thinking of.
Released in 2009, the burger's name was a painfully obvious double entendre, and the
ad campaign really ran with it, featuring…well, this.
And if anyone still didn't get the reference, the fine print made it even more blatant,
referencing a "mind-blowing burger" that promised to, quote, "fill your desire for something
long, juicy and flame grilled."
The backlash was severe, leading Burger King to shelve the ad and quietly banish the Super
Seven Incher from its menus.
But that wasn't the end of it.
The controversy resurfaced several years later, when the model in the ad said she was unaware
that the photos she were posing for would be used in such a suggestive manner and accused
the company of publicly humiliating her.
Real Meals were introduced in 2019 to coincide with Mental Health Awareness Month, with each
boxed-up Burger King combo representing a different mood.
Feeling salty?
Burger King had the meal to match the mood.
And the commercials were pretty brutal.
"My boss is such a freaking creep.
I just told him to go f--- himself."
As anyone might have expected, Real Meals were utterly eviscerated online, with most
social media users feeling less "salty" or "depressed" and more "scathing" and "sarcastic."
One tweeter even congratulated Burger King for ending mental illness the same way Kendall
Jenner and Pepsi ended racism, referencing another disastrous ad campaign that had occurred
a few years earlier.
Another wrote:
"Just punched a hole in my wall thinking about all the money I could have saved last year
by just having Burger King instead of having to go to the psychiatric hospital."
In 2013, healthy eating was top of mind for many consumers, which wasn't all that great
for fast-food retailers.
Sensing an untapped market for low-fat alternatives to fast food classics, however, Burger King
introduced Satisfries.
Billed as containing 40 percent less fat and 30 percent fewer calories than ordinary fries,
the chain likely saw Satisfries as an opportunity to entice health-conscious consumers into
sampling a guilt-free French fry.
A seemingly solid strategy?
Sure.
But in practice, not so much.
Satisfries bombed big time.
Bob Goldin, executive vice president at Chicago-based researcher Technomic Inc., hit the nail on
the head when he explained why the product was doomed from the get-go.
Healthy menu items at fast-food restaurants, he explained, target a very narrow audience,
illustrating an important truism: people consumed with health will rarely eat fast food, and
people who eat fast food are clearly not over-concerned with their health.
He said:
"French fries are an indulgence, just like ice cream.
You don't eat them if you're worried about your diet."
By the mid-2000s, the world of breakfast was a fast-food battleground.
McDonald's had long held a solid head start with their iconic Egg McMuffins when Burger
King came up with a breakfast sandwich that they hoped would dethrone it once and for
all.
This product was the Enormous Omelet Sandwich, which boasted a two-egg omelet topped with
two slices of American cheese, a sausage patty and three thick strips of bacon, piled high
on a hoagie-style bun.
Unfortunately, those who dug into the sandwich's nutritional information came away with a few
not-so-fun facts.
Besides containing more calories than the Whopper, the Enormous Omelet Sandwich also
played host a whopping 47 grams of fat.
At the time, Burger King's chief global marketing officer said:
"By expanding our indulgent breakfast sandwich menu, Burger King restaurants now offer even
more alternatives for our guests who want a convenient and filling breakfast."
Fast food consumers do clearly love a hearty breakfast, but apparently drew the line at
a sandwich that should have been sold with a defibrillator on the side.
The BK Enormous Omelet was discontinued, and never heard from again.
Hot dogs and hamburgers have gone hand-in-hand at backyard barbecues for decades, so why
shouldn't that also be the case at Burger King?
The fast-food chain decided to find out in 2016 by launching Grilled Dogs.
These dogs were available in a standard variety as well as a chili cheese version.
Burger King North America president Alex Macedo said at the time:
"The introduction of Grilled Dogs just made sense to our guests and for our brand."
Burger King was apparently quite bullish on marketing its dogs, too.
In fact, the chain hired rapper Snoop Dogg and Spanish-American singer Charo to star
in a number of humorous ads meant to look like training videos, that instructed staff
in the proper preparation of the dogs.
Snoop in particular was billed as a "Grilled Dogs Training Ambassador," who instructs trainees
how to top the restaurant's wieners.
"You can top this dog with ketchup, mustard, your relishes - you know relishes ain't nothing
but chopped up pickles."
People like burgers.
People like pizza.
So you'd assume that combining the two would be a home run.
And that was clearly the thinking that resulted in the Pizza Burger.
This new Burger King product was launched as a special offering at the chain's locations
in New York.
In truth, the item was more burger than pizza, being essentially a giant hamburger with pizza-style
toppings including pepperoni, mozzarella cheese, pesto, and marinara sauce, all crammed into
a nine-and-a-half-inch sesame seed bun.
The super-sized burger was then cut into sections and shared like a pizza, designed to feed
six.
The New York Pizza Burger was the creation of Burger King's head chef James Sullivan,
who described the monstrous meal as a "fast food translation of the locavore movement,"
which aims to connect food producers and food consumers in the same geographic locale.
But Burger King's New York Pizza Burger was not for the weak of heart, literally.
All in all, it clocked in at an artery-clogging 2,500 calories.
In 2002, Burger King decided to shake things up with their Shake 'Em Up Fries.
The concept was pretty basic: the chain's regular fries were served in a bag, along
with a "Cheezy Flavor Blast" packet that was meant to be sprinkled inside.
Customers would simply seal up the bag, give the fries a vigorous shaking to coat the fries
and then chow down.
A commercial for the new product demonstrated the shaking technique, featuring an array
of youngsters agitating their fry-filled bags and then eating the bright-orange potato sticks
that emerged.
Sadly, Shake 'Em Up Fries didn't make as much of an impact on the marketplace as Burger
King had hoped, and were eventually discontinued.
Despite the product's failure, however, McDonald's were reportedly developing a similar flavored
french fry in 2014.
McDonald's tested its seasoned fries in a California location, which looked a heck of
a lot like Burger King's version.
In fact, the product wasn't even just similar, it was pretty much the exact same process.
Fries go in a bag, customer adds seasoning, then shakes and eats.
That test was presumably unsuccessful, as the product was never rolled out nationally.
Maybe this one just isn't a good idea.
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