Burger King courts mom with kids meal
NEW YORK — After watching its bigger rival McDonald's Corp. try to woo mom, Burger King Corp. is launching a marketing and promotional campaign Monday meant to grab her attention.
"A large part of our customer base is parents with children," said Russ Klein, president of global strategy, marketing and innovation. "As a parent, the challenge is always trying to get the kinds of things you want to but have some dimension of fun."
The centerpiece of the effort, Klein said, is a new kids meal featuring a four-ounce serving of Kraft macaroni and cheese, lowfat milk and the company's "Fresh Apple Fries," which are uncooked apple slices shaped like french fries and served with low-fat caramel dipping sauce. The meal went on sale recently for $3.49 and will be a permanent fixture on Burger King's menu.
The launch will be followed by an in-restaurant merchandising and television ad campaign, with the first commercial airing Monday. That spot will introduce "Little King" meant to be the masked king's young son.
The company will be offering free samples of its apple fries through July in major cities. Burger King also will give away samples at Jonas Brothers concert tour sites. Burger King is an official sponsor of the group's "Burning Up Tour" and will be offering some free tickets to the concerts.
Klein declined to specify the value of the advertising and marketing effort, saying only that the company will spend millions "supporting this vehicle."
Burger King certainly isn't the first fast food restaurant to try to persuade moms to listen to the pleas in the backseat for fast food. McDonald's launched a public relations campaign targeted at mothers last year in a bid to neutralize criticism that the company's food is a contributor to childhood obesity.
The McDonald's approach included adding a bevy of healthier menu items to its menu meant to entice both kids and parents, including "Apple Dippers" — pre-cut slices of apples similar to the new Burger King version. The chain also started a "mom's quality correspondence" campaign in which six mothers got a behind-the-scenes look at how the chain operates. The moms write about their experience on the company's Web site.
Zack's Investment Research senior analyst Anne Northrup said McDonald's has been "a trailblazer" in changing the perception that fast food is an indulgence that likely will lead to gaining a few extra pounds.
But convincing parents to correlate healthy eating with the home of the Whopper may not so be easy, particularly since Burger King has been lambasted by critics for not switching to trans-fat free oil as fast as some of its competitors. The chain has committed to making the switch in all of its restaurants by the end of the year. Wendy's International Inc., meanwhile, cut out trans fat oil in August 2006.
Northrup said getting parents to take their families to Burger King may also be dependent on the pace of the chain's remodeling campaign. Burger King has been attempting to turn around its sales partly by renovating its restaurants.
Northrup said a large number of the chain's restaurants are still more than 30 years old.
"That's a key driver of earnings growth in the next few years," she said.
E-mail this story 
Printer-friendly version
Notice about comments:
The Post and Courier is pleased to offer readers the ability to comment on stories. We expect our readers to engage in lively, yet civil discourse. The Post and Courier does not edit user submitted statements and we cannot promise that readers will not occasionally find offensive or inaccurate comments posted in the comments area. Responsibility for the statements posted lies with the person submitting the comment, not postandcourier.com. If you find a comment that is objectionable, please click "suggest removal" and we will review it for possible removal. Please be reminded, however, that in accordance with our Terms of Use and federal law, we are under no obligation to remove any third party comments posted on our Web site.
Full terms and conditions can be read here.
Comments
This article has 0 comment(s)
