[10] After visiting the McDonald brothers' original store location in San Bernardino, California, the founders and owners (Keith G. Cramer and his wife's uncle Matthew Burns), who had purchased the rights to two pieces of equipment called "Insta-machines", opened their first restaurants.

Pillsbury's Executive Vice President of Restaurant Operations Norman E. Brinker was tasked with turning the brand around, and strengthening its position against its main rival McDonald's.

[29] Eventually, the ongoing systematic institutional neglect of the brand through a string of owners damaged the company to the point where major franchises were driven out of business, and its total value was significantly decreased.

[47][48] The delisting of its stock was designed to help the company repair its fundamental business structures and continue working to close the gap with McDonald's without having to worry about pleasing shareholders.

[49] In August 2014, 3G announced that it planned to acquire the Canadian restaurant and coffee shop chain Tim Hortons and merge it with Burger King with backing from Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway.

The overhaul plan included more kiosks, dedicated pickup areas for mobile app orders, food-ordering platforms like Doordash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub, and an improved drive-thru service.

[67] Burger King derived its income from several sources, including property rental and sales through company owned restaurants;[67] however, a substantial portion of its revenue was dependent on franchise fees.

RBI's present organizational structure includes five primary segments: Tim Hortons, Burger King, Firehouse Subs, Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen and International.

In exchange for the oversight responsibilities, the master franchise will receive administrative and advertising support from Burger King Corporation to ensure a common marketing scheme.

[72][73] The 3G Capital ownership group announced in April 2011 that it would begin divesting itself of many corporate owned locations with the intent to increase the number of privately held restaurants to 95%.

[77][78] In August 2014, the future of the company's Miami headquarters was again in doubt as reports surfaced that Burger King was in talks about buying the Canadian restaurant chain Tim Hortons.

[17] Neglect of Burger King by new owner Grand Metropolitan and its successor Diageo[30] further hurt the standing of the brand, causing significant financial damage to BK franchises and straining relations between the parties.

[85] After the sale, newly appointed CEO Brad Blum initiated a program to help roughly 20 percent of its franchises, including its four largest, who were in financial distress, bankruptcy or had ceased operations altogether.

[103][104] Beginning in 1982, BK and its franchisees began operating stores in several East Asian countries, including Japan, Taiwan, Singapore and South Korea.

[106] The company divides its international operations into three segments; the Middle East, Europe and Africa division (EMEA), Asia-Pacific (APAC) and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC).

[21]: 1  It is expected that 3G Brazilian-based management connections in the region may help Burger King expand in Brazil and Latin America, where it has been having problems finding acceptable franchisees.

Depending on the ownership and executive staff at the time of these incidents, the company's responses to these challenges have ranged from a conciliatory dialog with its critics and litigants, to a more aggressive opposition with questionable tactics and negative consequences.

The Islamic countries within the League made a joint threat to the company of legal sanctions including the revocation of Burger King's business licenses within the member states' territories.

Each year, these coalitions hold a fund raising drive called "A Chance for Kids", in which Burger King restaurants sell lottery-style scratch cards for $1.

[158] When the predecessor of Burger King first opened in Jacksonville in 1953, its menu consisted predominantly of basic hamburgers, French fries, soft drinks, milkshakes, and desserts.

International variations add ingredients such as teriyaki or beetroot and fried egg to the Whopper;[163] beer in Germany, Italy, and Spain; and halal or kosher products in the Middle East and Israel.

[184] In late 2021 and early 2022, the company announced it would cut back on value items and altered product configuration because of inflationary pressures and to speed up drive-thru lanes.

[159] The company would stay with that format for the next 40 years until Burger King began developing a variable speed broiler that could handle multiple items with different cooking rates and times.

[199] Starting in the early 1980s and running through approximately 2001, BK engaged a series of ad agencies that produced many unsuccessful slogans and programs, including its biggest advertising flop "Where's Herb?

"[200][201] Burger King was a pioneer in the advertising practice known as the "product tie-in", with a successful partnership with George Lucas' Lucasfilm, Ltd., to promote the 1977 film Star Wars in which BK sold a set of beverage glasses featuring the main characters from the movie.

As a result, BK altered the promotional commercials to be directed at an older audience, and included a pamphlet disclaimer with the toys which read, in part; "the movie Small Soldiers may contain material that is inappropriate for younger children.

[citation needed] Shortly after the acquisition of Burger King by TPG Capital, L.P. in 2002, its new CEO Brad Blum set about turning around the fortunes of the company by initiating an overhaul of its flailing advertising programs.

[212][213] These ad campaigns, coupled with other new promotions and a series of new product introductions, drew positive and negative attention to BK and helped TPG and its partners realize about US$367 million in dividends.

After the completion of the sale of the company in late 2010, the new ownership group terminated Burger King's seven-year relationship with CP+B and hired rival firm McGarryBowen to create a new campaign with an expanded market reach.

The television spot which premiered during the Super Bowl LIII features archival documentary film footage from "66 Scenes from America" by Jørgen Leth of the pop artist Andy Warhol (1928–1987) unwrapping and eating a Whopper.