I don’t know about you all, but going to Burger King was always a, shall we say, unique experience for me growing up.
McDonald’s brought the fun, Wendy’s had the highest quality, but Burger King was always one of those places where you walk in and there’s a whiff of depression in the air.
Don’t get me wrong, I love the Original Chicken Sandwich and the Rodeo Burger is the best deal you can get, but those few perks never really made up for the shabby interior, stick floors, and lack of morale from the staff.
Well, CEO Deborah Derby is trying to change all of that by rolling out some new customer service initiatives that seems to resemble Chick-Fil-A and the world renowned service their employees provide.
Now, I will die on the “Chick-Fil-A is the most overrated restaurant in America” hill, and I’m a big chicken sandwich guy (Popeyes and Zaxby’s all day), but every time I’ve been there the food comes out quick and fresh and the people are almost too happy, which is of course what they’re going for.
If all goes to plan, Burger King will be giving you a similar experience as Derby told Bloomberg that workers will be required to offer every customer one of their signature cardboard crowns and also tell everyone “You rule,” a tagline that was introduced by the company back in 2022, in hopes of creating a “positive aura” in the restaurants.
“Say it’s a guy who’s like 38 years old, no kids in the car, and I got to say to him: ‘Do you want a crown? You can’t help but smile when you say that, and he can’t help but laugh back. It forces that extra few seconds of engagement.”
Sure reminds me of Chick-Fil-A workers being required to say “My pleasure” to everything…
I get what they’re trying to do, but let’s just take her example and dissect it, shall we?
A 38 year old dude rolls up to Burger King because he needs a few seconds to escape his soul crushing job and overbearing in-laws before picking the kids up from soccer practice. He’s probably already leaning toward the embarrassment side of the spectrum for being there in the first place, and then he has to turn down the offer of a cardboard crown and say “thank you” when a worker tells him he rules, even though he clearly doesn’t feel like he’s ruling anything in the moment?
Sure, that may be a bit much but thinking about the general clientele of Burger King makes me think this scenario is going to play out more often than not.
Or maybe that overwhelmed guy will get a kick out of the crown, bring it to his kids, and leave with a smile on his face. I don’t know, I don’t run a multi-billion dollar corporation so maybe she knows something.
Time will tell, but at least BK is doing something to turn their reputation around.
Here’s a compilation of some of their ads from the 70’s and 80’s, which are honestly pretty great…
