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McDonald’s is playing a fancy new tune in counterpoint to Hungry Jack’s (Burger King’s) introduction of the jazzy Bourbon Whopper in Australia. New at the Golden Arches is “Angus the Third,” a variation on the upscale Grand Angus and Mighty Angus burgers it introduced a year ago. The differentiator is a sauce, described as “tomato chili [...]

Ξ Don’t cry for Argentina. You can buy a Big Mac there for the equivalent of $1.78, compared with the U.S. average of $3.73, according to the latest Big Mac Index from The Economist. But Argentina isn’t the only country getting away cheaply. In Hong Kong, the Big Mac is $1.90; in the rest of China [...]

McDonald’s became the world’s largest restaurant brand by watchin g, learning and adapting. Today’s second-quarter earnings call shows it still knows how to spot a trend. McDonald’s reported a 4.8% increase in global comparable sales for the quarter, including a 3.7% improvement in the U.S. and Europe jumping 5.2%. Although the economic picture—here and overseas—remains [...]

McDonald’s this week invited Canadians to visit its Facebook page and vote for either the Big Mac or the Quarter Pounder with Cheese as their favorite sandwich. A pair of giant hot-air balloons—one for each sandwich– hovering over Landmark, Manitoba, give real-time  updates on the voting: whichever balloon is floating higher in the sky is [...]

While the California Whopper goes on tour across Europe, Burger King has taken its Bourbon Whopper to Australia (where the chain operates as Hungry Jack’s rather than BK). After a trial run in Canada, the chain has decided to market the Bourbon Whopper as having “the taste of the Deep South.” In advertising, “bourbon” now [...]

[7/21: Winner! The Netherlands also gets a Double California Whopper.] [7/16 Update: It's spreading. In Germany and Austria, BK has added not only the California Whopper but also a California Wrap and a Texican Burrito. To watch the Monologue commercial about the California Whopper, go here.] “Catch a wave and you’re sitting on top of [...]

Burger King is extending its “Have it your way” philosophy to music. At the chain’s newest location in Japan, which opened June 29, diners at some tables can plug an iPod (or other mp3 player) into wall-mounted docking stations. A speaker in a plastic jellyfish-like dome overhead directs the music to those at the table below. Called a [...]

When quick-service restaurant chains talk about the weather, it’s usually to claim stormy skies as a reason why sales declined. But a new McDonald’s commercial airing in the United Kingdom brings up the weather as a way to discuss the chain’s reliance on the products of local farmers. The commercial is the work of Leo [...]

Ξ Does it signal topping overload or the decline of customization?            The Counter, the Culver City, Calif.-based upscale burger chain that was among the pioneers of the build-your-own-burger trend, is now offering “Signature Burgers in a Bowl.” Customers have always been able to custom-build a burger and have it served in a bowl (at left) [...]

Challenge McDonald’s and it will hit back hard. That seems to be what’s happening in Germany, where Big Mac is protecting strong sales and marketplace leadership with a protein parade of inventive menu items. Burger King’s latest monologue  promotes Grilled Chicken Classic and Grilled Chicken Barbecue sandwiches, so McDonald’s has responded with something completely new [...]