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When it launched new advertising this week that teased “Exciting things are happening at Burger King,” it wasn’t clear that the burger chain meant the boardroom as well as the dining room. Privately held Burger King Worldwide Holdings and publicly traded UK investment vehicle Justice Holdings Limited announced a business deal late Tuesday that will [...]

[Updated: Burger King says it is revising but not abandoning its 20/20 design concept. According to a company spokesperson, "Burger King Corp. believes its global 20/20 restaurant image program is the future of the Burger King brand and the company has no plans to move away from this image. … In an effort to provide franchisees with various [...]

McDonald’s introduction of the Mac Snack Wrap in 600 New York Metro locations this month suggests the chain is proceeding cautiously with this snack-size incarnation of the Big Mac, which it tried first in Canada in March. In contrast to McD’s North American menu conservatism, however, the chain’s European R&D folks are behaving like 6-year-olds at a cupcake-decorating party, [...]

Recession-proof? Better than that. McDonald’s Corp. 10-K annual report, filed with the SEC today, reveals that its global revenues (from company-owned and franchised restaurants) topped $70.6 billion in 2008, up 11.2% from 2007. Is there another major U.S. retailer in any category that can top that? Sales by company-owned McDonald’s restaurants decreased 0.3% to $16.561 [...]

Is McDonald’s turning its back on the United States? If so, it wouldn’t be totally surprising. In 2008, McDonald’s Corp.’s same-store sales were up 8.5% in Europe and 9% in Asia/Pacific/MidEast/Africa but only 4% in the U.S. Is that why Switzerland gets the fabulous “Der M” (at r.) and we don’t? It looks even tastier than our [...]