Posted on 11/30/2012 1:50:35 AM PST by bruinbirdman
The announcement that US fast food chain Burger King is set to make a return to France after a 15-year hiatus has caused huge excitement, even if only two franchises are planned for 2013.
Burger King is making a return to France after a 15-year hiatus, in news that has set mouths watering in a country better known for its haute cuisine, fine wine and cheeses.
The US fast food chain’s imminent return after it quit the country in 1997, citing the brand’s poor commercial performance, has been the subject of intense and repeated rumours for years.
And the confirmation on Thursday that the iconic Whopper sandwich was on its way back immediately triggered an avalanche of enthusiasm on the Internet.
By lunchtime on Thursday the hashtag #BurgerKing was “trending” as second most popular on Twitter France.
Some Twitter users were disappointed, however, that the chain will only be opening two restaurants – one at Marseille’s Provence Airport and the other at a motorway service station near Reims in the Champagne region - at least initially.
“It is absolutely essential that Burger King opens a restaurant at the Gare de Lyon [in Paris],” tweeted @alyssaw. “The commuters there are always miserable and could do with some cheering up.”
A Burger King spokesperson on Thursday told FRANCE 24 that the restaurant at London’s St Pancras station was consistently packed with “French visitors coming off the Eurostar.”
FRANCE 24 contacted French fast food news and reviews website www.snacking.fr to find out why Burger King had generated such mystique in France, and why the fast food giant’s return was causing so much excitement.
“Those that remember it, miss it, while a younger generation has grown up never having tasted a Whopper,” said site editor Paul Fedèle.
Fedèle explained that since Burger King had left the country, its main competitor McDonalds had successfully re-branded itself to suit French tastes and had become, along with European chain Quick, the “only burger restaurants of reference in France.”
“What’s creating so much buzz at today’s news is that Burger King represents something different, less ‘Frenchified’, more exotic, more American. There is definitely room on the French market for a new reference in burger culture," he said.
“The French want greater burger diversity and they are nostalgic for the return of a brand that was taken away from them, somewhat brutally, 15 years ago.”
Mmm, mmm. Royale, wit’ cheese.
Oh, wait. That’s McDonalds...
overpriced, staffed by uncaring goons, and your "fellow customers" are the EBT crowd.
No thanks.
I love Burger King and I don’t fit the description one bit nor do the staff at my local Burger King. No McDonald’s on the other hand.....
Classic scene!
Last weekend went to the re-opened Gino’s (Home of the Giant) in King of Prussia, PA
Fantastic!
Before, and better than, the Big Mac.
Funny they are opening new stores. Five burger kings have shut down in local area in the past 4 months.
greatest scene ever
Yea, but they think Jerry Lewis is funny too.
It’s about time they started getting some decent food in that country.
“Five burger kings have shut down in local area in the past 4 months.”
Just can’t beat the $1.00 McDouble, even if you made them yourself (I had 3 for dinner last night). McDonald’s is killing them and probably trying to put them away for good.
Does anybody know what happened to the BK Sliders of a few years ago? It was obviously an attempt to replicate White
Castle Burgers but failed. Probably because they tasted terrible.
Oops! That was the informal name. They were actually called BK Burger Shots but they also were terrible.
I wonder if McDonalds sells escargot in its French outlets under the name of McSlugs?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.