Burger King and rivals will give away 'Peace Day' burgers without McDonald's
Rebuffed by McDonald’s, Burger King has announced that its Peace Day Burger will be offered on Sept. 21 in an Atlanta pop-up restaurant. Joining with Burger King for the event are Denny’s, Wayback Burgers, Krystal, and Giraffas USA.
Burger King Corp. said Thursday, Sept. 17, 2015, that it is teaming with Denny’s, Wayback Burgers, The Krystal Co. and Giraffas USA on the Peace Day Burger. The burger, which will contain ingredients from the restaurants’ signature sandwiches, will be available for free on Sept. 21 at a pop-up restaurant in Atlanta. The companies say the mashup is a way to raise awareness for Peace Day and the Peace One Day organization.
Burger King/AP
Would that governments were as tenacious about promoting peace as is Burger King. Rebuffed by McDonald’s, Burger King has accepted the overtures from others and has announced that its Peace Day Burger will be offered on Sept. 21, 2015, only in an Atlanta pop-up restaurant. A total of 1,500 Peace Day Burgers will be available for free, first come first served, from 11:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. on that day.
Joining with Burger King for the event are Denny’s, Wayback Burgers, Krystal and Giraffas USA. The Peace Day Burger will be “culinary mash-up of a lifetime,” containing parts of Denny’s Bacon Slamburger, Wayback’s Wayback Classic, Krystal’s Cheese Krystal, Giraffas’ Brutus and, of course, Burger King’s Whopper sandwiches. The participating brands will be making contributions to the Peace One Day organization and increasing awareness of its goals.
In a statement, Burger King SVP-Global Brand Management Fernando Machado said, “Since the beginning, the main objective of this initiative was to raise awareness of Peace Day. We are really proud to be part of the Peace One Day corporate coalition and to see that the awareness of Peace Day in the U.S. is almost five times higher among those who saw this campaign than those who were not aware of it. We were overwhelmed by the goodwill of our fellow restaurateurs, and believe that working with them to create this once-in-a-lifetime burger is a beautiful twist of fate.”
Burger King announced its offer to collaborate with McDonald’s on a McWhopper on Aug. 25, 2015. Perhaps because Burger King already had designed McWhopper packaging and uniforms and had designated a site for the event, McDonald’s may have decided this was an event in which it would be an unequal partner. Or perhaps CEO Steve Easterbrook recalled the line from John Badham’s 1983 movie “War Games”: “A strange game. The only winning move is not to play.”
Whatever, Easterbrook called Burger King’s offer “inspiration for a good cause” but suggested that its rival might instead “join us in a meaningful global effort.” Burger King stayed with its original idea and the match was all square.