BURGER KING® Restaurants Celebrate Universal Picture’s King Kong with
One of the Biggest Burgers in Company History
12/13/2005
Burger King Corporation (BKC) will feed Kong-sized appetites for Universal Pictures’ highly anticipated feature film, King Kong, with one of the company’s biggest burgers ever – the TRIPLE WHOPPER with cheese sandwich. King Kong opens in theaters worldwide on Dec. 14, 2005.
With three-fourths pounds of beef, the new permanent menu item features three flame-broiled beef patties, two slices of American cheese, crisp lettuce, ripe tomatoes, ketchup, mayonnaise, pickles and onions, stacked on a sesame bun. For smaller appetites, BURGER KING® restaurants also offer a half-pound DOUBLE WHOPPER® sandwich. And in honor of the film, for a limited time only restaurants will serve chocolate banana milkshakes in sizes ranging from 16 oz. to 42 oz.
"A King Kong promotion was a natural fit for the BURGER KING brand,” said Brian Gies, vice president of marketing, Burger King Corporation. "Now we have a WHOPPER® sandwich that’s sure to satisfy even Kong-sized cravings."
Burger King Corporation introduced the WHOPPER sandwich at the first BURGER KING restaurant in Miami in 1957 and its size and distinctive flame-broiled flavor made it an instant hit. Today, BURGER KING restaurants sell more than 3.2 million WHOPPER sandwiches every day. The suggested retail price of the TRIPLE WHOPPER with cheese is $3.99 and DOUBLE WHOPPER is $2.99.
In-restaurant displays, along with King Kong-themed product packaging and national television advertising will support the December promotion. The television spots, created by Crispin Porter + Bogusky, will run from Dec. 12 – 31.
"Peter Jackson and the Kong team have been actively involved in our partner's promotional campaigns, from concept and creative development through to execution," said Stephanie Sperber, executive vice president, Universal Studios Partnerships. "This level and quality of involvement has allowed for a degree of integration that ties brands to King Kong in unique and compelling ways."
About King Kong
Universal Pictures' King Kong, a new version of the classic adventure story first brought to the screen in the 1933 RKO motion picture, is directed by triple-Academy Award® winner Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings trilogy) and stars Oscar® nominee Naomi Watts (21 Grams, The Ring), Jack Black (School of Rock) and Oscar winner Adrien Brody (The Pianist). It is co-written by Jackson’s three-time Oscar-winning partner Fran Walsh, their Lord of the Rings co-writer Philippa Boyens and Jackson. King Kong is produced by Jan Blenkin, Carolynne Cunningham, Walsh and Jackson under their WingNut Films banner.
About Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures is a division of Universal Studios (www.universalstudios.com). Universal Studios is part of NBC Universal, one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience. Formed in May 2004 through the combining of NBC and Vivendi Universal Entertainment, NBC Universal owns and operates a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group, and world-renowned theme parks. NBC Universal is 80%-owned by General Electric, with 20% controlled by Vivendi Universal.
About Burger King Corporation
The BURGER KING® system operates more than 11,000 restaurants in all 50 states and in more than 60 countries and territories worldwide. Approximately 90 percent of BURGER KING® restaurants are owned and operated by independent franchisees, many of them family-owned operations that have been in business for decades.
Burger King Holdings Inc., the parent company, is private and independently owned by an equity sponsor group comprised of Texas Pacific Group, Bain Capital and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners. To learn more about BURGER KING®, please visit the company's Web site at http://www.burgerking.com.
Chef2Chef News Desk