Have It Your Way

Business Wire: During Thursday’s season premiere of “The Apprentice,” Trump’s management team served up a mammoth task to the latest crop of contestants: name, build, market and sell a new menu item at BURGER KING(R) restaurants. What the Trump trainees didn’t know is that Burger King Corporation would actually flip for the winning burger – the Western Angus Steak Burger – and begin serving it nationwide the next day.
As the smoke cleared atop Trump Tower, BURGER KING restaurants from coast to coast began to prepare for the fastest new product launch in the company’s 50-year history.
“At BURGER KING, our HAVE IT YOUR WAY(R) philosophy puts our customers in charge. It’s all about empowerment and getting what you want, when you want it,” said Russ Klein, chief marketing officer, Burger King Corporation. “That’s why we couldn’t wait even a day to take this burger from the boardroom to the lunchroom.”
BURGER KING(R) franchisees and employees nationwide didn’t know they’d have to fire up the grills for a new product until minutes after the first contestant was fired. On Friday morning, each store received a shipment including ingredients, instructions and “Apprentice”-themed promotional materials, giving them a matter of hours to add the new item to their menus. The high-speed turn-around was a first for both “The Apprentice” and Burger King Corporation, and is unprecedented in the chain restaurant industry.
For fans of “The Apprentice” who are hoping to try the winning product, the new Western Angus Steak Burger will be available for a limited time now through February 4, 2005.
Burger King Corporation Takes Reality TV to the Next Level on the Season Three Premiere of “The Apprentice” [Business Wire]