Maybe That Creepy Burger King Mascot Isn't Such A Good Idea?

While beating earnings expectations at 37 cents a share, Burger King still noted a slight sales decrease of 2% worldwide, and 3.3% in the U.S. and Canada markets despite adding 321 new restaurants. Normally, with new outlets an overall sales increase should be noted. Part of the problem is that Burger King is just too similar to most other fast food outlets that serve hamburgers without enough uniqueness to set it aside from McDonalds and others.

The only real good news is that Burger King outlets have become slightly more profitable, while at the same time the new outlets have really fallen short of building additional sales.

And it might be that those creepy Burger King mascot ads are simply a missed opportunity. They might get the Burger King name out there, but they really fail to advertise any identifiable product to draw new customers. The ads might work to remind steady customers to return, but fail to give a new customer any real reason to stop in. By contrast the Jack In The Box ads are unusual, but often make special note of a new product, giving customers a reason to stop in.