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[9/7/11 Update: See here about the 1955's entry into the UK.] [4/20 Update: For a sneak peek at the 1955 ad campaign McDonald's might use in the U.S., go here]  [1/27/11 Update: Click here to see how McD's has introduced the 1955 in Italy. It was added in Spain on March 1, 2011.] A new [...]

Burgers are back on Burgerville’s LTO list as the Pacific Northwest regional chain announces its latest season special. Beginning today (9/28), the Vancouver, Wash.-based chain offers an Echo Mountain Blue Burger (below) that’s topped with Echo Mountain Blue Cheese from Rogue Creamery in Central Point, Ore. It succeeds one of the chain’s most innovative limited-time [...]

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0plpUs_ycIMcDonald’s strikes something close to Old Spice’s wry “New Manliness” pose in TV spots in Australia promoting the chain’s iconic Big Mac and Quarter Pounder burgers. Voiceover copy for one 30-second spot, from DDB Sydney, is “The Quarter Pounder. Cheese. Beef. Cheese. Bun. Hand. But only one hand. In case you need to open a door. Or a jar. [...]

Ξ IHOP never has had much presence in the burger category. Perhaps it was waiting for a gimmick. The chain’s revamped menu includes a new five-item line of Bacon ’N Beef Burgers (left). The “better burger” twist here is that chopped hickory-smoked bacon is blended into the ground beef. Choices are a Bacon ’N Beef [...]

McDonald’s is testing a full-size tortilla wrap, capitalizing on a menu lesson learned overseas and following a path already trod by others here and abroad. Wendy’s also has tested  entrée-size wraps. According to a report in the Chicago Sun-Times, McDonald’s is testing burrito-size Chicken Grande Wraps. All have chicken, cheese, tomato, cucumber and lettuce. The [...]

Elevation Burger, based in Arlington, Va., stakes its claim to a share of the “better burger” category by offering a very limited menu of  freshly ground, 100% USDA-certified organic, 100% grass-fed, 100% free-range beef burgers and fresh-cut fries cooked in olive oil.  The basic, single-patty hamburger is about $3.59; the double-patty Elevation Burger is $6. [...]

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrEyzmttZA8Why so much coverage here of the burger battles in Australia? Because the action never stops there. McDonald’s, Hungry Jack’s and the others are all in it to win it, so there’s always something new. The latest twist is a 30-second TV spot (at left) from McDonald’s in Australia (via DDB, Sydney) offering customers a [...]

Having watched rival McDonald’s U.S. sales heat up this summer thanks in part to smoothies and frappés while its own sales struggled to escape red ink, Burger King is looking to join the fast-beverage trend by testing a Strawberry Banana Smoothie of its own. In one mid-Atlantic test market, Burger King operators confirm that the chain [...]

In Wendy’s release announcing its new $4.99 “Pick 2” meal deal, Chief Marketing Officer Ken Calwell is quoted as saying, “We’re building on the popularity of our new salads by letting customers ‘Pick 2’ without compromising on flavor or price.” But with Wendy’s full-size salads priced at $5.99, isn’t a price ‘compromise’ central to the $4.99 promotion? [...]

Pizza Hut has reignited a bundled-dinner pricing battle in Australia that had looked to be a one-on-one-battle between McDonald’s and Burger King. The American pizza chain has introduced its version of a multi-entrée Dinner Box in Australia, this one containing one pan pizza, a tray of its Toscani pasta, four cheese-filled Twist Ups and garlic bread [...]

There’s no need for panic. You needn’t edge your way toward the exit. But there’s something unsettling about Smashburger’s decision this week to significantly expand its menu with seven chicken entreés but not a single new burger. After all, Smashburger not only uses “burger” in its name, it also is one of the pioneering fast-casual concepts [...]

Red Robin Gourmet Burgers next week begins a fall menu promotion with a distinctly Mediterranean theme. The showcase item, according to sources, is something new and different for the chain: the Mt. Olympus Burger, topped with artichoke-spinach dip, bacon and feta cheese. Also featured will be a Mediterranean Chicken Salad with feta and other Greek-salad-style [...]

McDonald’s McMini Mango. Say that three times fast. The half-chicken-fillet snack that McDonald’s introduced in Canada in March has performed well enough that the chain has added a new flavor: Zesty Mango. (I’m a sucker for “zesty,” a word that regularly appears in advertising but never in adult human discourse.) The McMini was introduced with [...]

While the lawyers work out details of its buyout by 3G Capital, Burger King has launched its augmented breakfast menu. And it’s serving up smack talk on the side. “We’re ready to compete to be America’s wake-up call with our new BK Breakfast Menu,” according to a quote attributed to Mike Kappitt, North American CMO, [...]

There always has been unintended irony in the choice of “Taste is King” as the positioning slogan Burger King uses in Europe. The company no doubt sees it as a salute to what it believes to be its superior food. But a recent history of snickering, sophomoric marketing and advertising gambits (see the SpongeBob kids [...]