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In line with its stated intention to focus more attention on value pricing, Burger King is testing consumer response to a daily-discount program it already has in place in the UK and Canada. The “King Deals” tactic testing in select markets offers a different discounted meal on each weekday as a sort of rapid-fire limited-time-offer [...]

No one responds faster to trouble in the marketplace than McDonald’s. As expected, the QSR burger leader has answered October’s sales drop—its first monthly decline in nine years—with a quick menu infusion that focuses on the low-end of the price spectrum. To boost customer traffic, McDonald’s has added the new Grilled Onion Cheddar burger (which [...]

McDonald’s Corp. rebounded quickly from the black eye of October’s first drop in same-same sales in nine years. November comp sales rose 2.4% globally and 2.5% in the U.S., thanks, the company said, to “the ongoing popularity of McDonald’s breakfast along with balance across everyday value offerings, premium menu options including the limited-time Cheddar Bacon [...]

The latest survey of McDonald’s franchisees conducted by Janney Capital Markets analyst Mark Kalinowski offers some insight into how remodeling investments and marketing programs such as discounting are viewed by some operators. Their unease about the cash-flow impact of “re-imaging” contrasts with the standard corporate view that such investments are vital to keep brands relevant [...]

In select Midwest markets, Hardee’s is offering a BLT Double Cheeseburger—topped just as you’d guess from the name—for a value-friendly $2.39 or 2 for $4. To go with it, a 32-oz. Coke or tea is just $1.  Such pricing looks to be the new QSR norm this summer as commodity costs make deep discounting on [...]

While other chains try “bundled” meals of sandwich, fries and a drink for one person as a way to boost profits, McDonald’s in Australia has been refining a more ambitious idea for the past year: bundled meals for more than one person. Now it has expanded this boxed-meal program, creating two-person boxed lunches and breakfasts [...]

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1RsIy0kFsA Or… No sooner do I say that March is hamburger R&D hibernation month than two chains that rarely roll out new burgers do just that—with television ad support no less—and Burger King introduces the strategically brilliant BK Stackers line. It’s what makes the burger business so interesting, I suppose. ◙ Yum! Brands is looking for [...]

Going beyond merely “bundling” a combo meal at a low price, Hardee’s is assembling two double cheeseburgers, an order of its Natural-Cut Fries, a fried apple pie and a 20-oz. beverage and putting them in an easy-carry box. The new Big Box Lunch deal is $5 and available systemwide.  The boxed-meal approach, an idea as [...]

Ξ Burger King is testing consumer response to the idea of rotating low-price specials through the week. In a variation of the daily King Deals it has offered in Canada, the chain in select U.S. markets is offering $1.69 sandwich specials on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. In southern Wisconsin that means original Chicken Sandwiches are [...]

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RhvhARsIyQ If the recession really has bottomed out, as some analysts would like us all to believe, and consumers are sliding back toward their old spending habits, why are burger chains still discounting like this? Jack in the Box yesterday rolled out its Really Big Chicken Sandwich Combo. For $3.99—still below the times-are-tough $4 price ceiling—customers [...]

What happens when price wars get out of control? You get what’s happening in New Zealand, a lovely, peaceful nation where the dinner combo-meal competition between McDonald’s and Burger King has escalated to where consumers need scorecards to keep the dinner deals straight. Follow along: In March, McDonald’s introduced its innovative Dinner Boxes in Australia. The [...]

Ξ Chili’s becomes the first casual-dining chain to do a “better burgers” upgrade twice when it introduces new Handmade Burgers this week. The three new burgers—Rojo (with barbecue sauce), Avocado and Ultimate Stacked—join the menu beginning at just $5.99. Hand-Made Burgers come to Chili’s less than six months after the chain unveiled a new menu [...]

[May 20 Update: As expected, Red Robin announced the new menu, in stores by 5/24. Announced two $6.99 LTOs—Big Melt Bacon Burger and Honey Mustard Chicken sandwich—coming June 14. Comp sales for Q1 were a respectable -2.3%, compared with -10.5% and -14.9% the previous two quarters.] Red Robin Gourmet Burgers will announce a new menu this [...]

No longer just a regional chain with retro carhops, Sonic Drive-In establishes itself as an innovative, national QSR power with a new game plan outlined to Wall Street this week at “Analysts Day” meetings at its Oklahoma City headquarters. That strategic plan includes the menu introductions this year of a line of Loaded Burgers, a [...]

One big problem with dollar menus is people like me, but Jack in the Box thinks it may have found a way around me with its new “Pick 3 for $3″ customizable value menu. I’ve been known to hit the drive-thru at McDonald’s for a $1 Sausage Burrito in the morning, but I don’t get [...]