Burger King Sues Burger King for $1

Selling cheeseburgers for $1 sounds like a good idea, especially for the consumer! After all, maintaining giant thunder-thighs isn't cheap.

So no doubt, in the eyes of the customer, cheaper is better. But Burger King's $1 double cheeseburger is no good for Burger King franchises.

That's why the franchises are now suing their corporate overlord, claiming the $1 special is forcing them to sell cheeseburgers at a loss.

One franchisee said double cheeseburgers usually cost $1.10. The meat, cheese, bun, and condiments costs $0.55, and the other $0.55 covers rent, royalties, and paying employees, so losing that $0.10 mucks up the system.

The corporation pushed the discount cheeseburger, which went on sale last month, after being rejected by franchise owners twice, to help boost sales and increase restaurant visits. The bigwigs expect a 20% jump in patronage.

Burger King has 12,000 locations worldwide and 90% are owned by franchisees, so you'd think the business gurus would have been more sensitive before dumping this marketing strategy, err, expense onto them.

I guess the thinking is cheaper food will mean more customers buying more food, but how long will that work? You can only eat some much in one day! It's not like a "can-can" sale. Fast food burgers don't last forever, or do they?

Via the Associated Press.

By Gerald "Gerry" Pugliese 

Reprinted by permission from Dietblogs