Would you like some spin with those fries? at Piaras Kelly PR

Would you like some spin with those fries?

Published November 1st, 2005 in General

You are what you eat and I’m fast, easy and cheap!

The fast food industry always seems to be making the news, but the last fortnight has been interesting for a couple of reasons. McDonalds have announced that they will be publishing nutritional information on their wrappers and Burger King opted out of a health food drive.

At first glance, you’d think that McDonalds would have come out better from both those announcements, but in reality Burger King have come out on top because of their honesty.

Why? Let’s work with the ever popular ‘markets are conversations’ tagline that everyone is so fond of. Fast food shouldn’t be the cornerstone of anyone’s diet, that’s just common sense. Anyone that blames their obesity on McDonalds or any other fast food outlet is just plain stupid. You are what you eat and I know when I go to McDonalds, I’m going to come out fast, easy and cheap.

McDonalds is somehow inferring that it is promoting healthy eating with its new labeling system, but in reality it’s nothing new. They gave the same material on the sheet of paper on the tray beforehand so how is this going to make a difference? It’s simply one of the actions for them to be seen to be doing the right thing. Especially when you consider that this is the company that was willing to pay rappers for mentioning their products in their songs!

On the other hand, Burger King is right in maintaining that we as consumers bear the ultimate responsibility for our choices. I know that I shouldn’t eat fast food often, but I do eat it occasionally - typically on nights out like the rest of the Irish population!

I love honesty and Burger King’s stance resonates with me. An honest brand makes me sit up and take notice, making me respect them for it in the process. I know that it’s not particularly healthy, but when I want to get some tasty food then it’s Burger King for me. Whopper or a Big Mac? There’s no comparison, BK wins everyday!

Technorati Tags: Burger King, McDonalds, Piaras Kelly, PR

One Response to “Would you like some spin with those fries?”

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1 frankp Nov 2nd, 2005 at 6:21 am

I remember reading about BK’s outlook on this a while back:
Burger King’s CEO has turned around the chain with a radical notion: give people what they want.
It struck me as a really honest article.

“We’d love to have everybody,” says Brenneman, in his office at a table supported by a plaster Whopper. “But you better figure out who will drive business.”
[...]
Burger King gets away with its food with ‘tude partly because, as No. 2, it doesn’t face the same public pressure as McDonald’s, the dark force in “Super Size Me.” “McDonald’s takes more of the brunt of the press and nutrition Nazis,” says Brenneman.

Worth reading the whole article, it touches on other issues related to PR too such as the fact that in order for BK’s plan to work the bad relationship between BK and franchisees has to stop and he his taking steps to get everyone working together. He sends out a weekly viocemail updating workers on progress.

And I’m with you - BK is definitely just tastier.