Burger King Launches Big Mac Rival With Ad Blitz $30 Million Campaign Planned To Introduce Big King Sandwich

Burger King is putting more than $30 million in national advertising support behind its launch of the Big King sandwich that takes dead aim at industry leader McDonald’s Big Mac hamburger.

But McDonald’s officials expressed confidence that burger lovers will remain loyal to its signature double beef patty offering.

“If you want a Big Mac, there is still only one place to get one,” said Chuck Ebeling, a spokesman for McDonald’s.

Miami-based Burger King, a distant second in the $39 billion hamburger chain market, announced Thursday that it was putting the Big King on its regular menu across the country starting over the Labor Day weekend.

The sandwich, which had been tested nationally twice in the past two years under the name Double Supreme, was built on the Big Mac model - two beef patties, lettuce, cheese, onions, pickles and a special sauce.

But Burger King said the Big King has 75 percent more beef than the Big Mac and it left out the third piece of bread found in a Big Mac.

The Big King contains 5.6 ounces of beef compared to 3.2 ounces for the Big Mac. It also packs a hefty 660 calories versus the Big Mac’s 560.

Burger King said its research indicates Big Mac customers prefer the taste of the Big King and that the sandwich drew in new customers during tests without taking a bite out of sales of its flagship Whopper.

But McDonald’s says the Big Mac is more than the sum of its parts.

“The taste of the Big Mac has been established for over a quarter century and that includes the club slice of toasted bread. That’s the way our customers like it,” Ebeling said.

The Big King will be introduced at a price of 99 cents for at least the first two weeks and will be available later as part of a meal with a drink and fries for $2.99. Its stand-alone price beyond the promotional period has not been disclosed.

The Big Mac costs $1.98 on average by itself, Ebeling said.

Burger King plans to back the new offering with advertising that will feature college football coaches Joe Paterno of Penn State, Eddie Robinson of Grambling State and others.

Other ads will use the songs “King of the Road” by Roger Miller and “Get Ready” by The Temptations.

Analysts expect that the Big King introduction could signal a shift in the fast-food business away from discounting and price wars.

“There is an expectation this will force more emphasis on product quality,” said Ron Paul, who heads the fast-food industry research concern Technomic Inc.

But Paul said hopes were similarly high for McDonald’s Arch Deluxe hamburger tailored for adult tastes and the product fell short of expectations.

McDonald’s is testing a bigger hamburger with a special sauce that resembles Burger King’s Whopper in California, and Paul said there is speculation it could replace the Arch Deluxe.

The emphasis on bigger burgers alarms some nutritionists. Burger King’s top marketing executive Jim Watkins said people do manage their own diets but still want good taste.

“People say they want to eat healthy, but they never do,” said Jack Russo, who follows the fast-food industry for A.G. Edwards & Sons in St. Louis.

Burger King pushed ahead with the long-standing plans for the introduction despite the well-publicized recall of a record 25 million pounds of ground beef from a Hudson Foods Inc. plant in Nebraska.

Burger King, the plant’s biggest customer, pulled all of the hamburger meat supplied by the Arkansas-based company from its stores and said it would no longer buy beef from Hudson. That move left about one-quarter of Burger Kings either out or short of hamburger meat for a day or two last week. There is no indication any tainted meat wound up in Burger King products.