When it comes to the Quick Service Restaurants (QSR) market, NZ stands out from the rest of the world. Why? Because it has the highest penetration per capita of QSR’s of any country in the world, ahead of even the United States. This means that competition within this category is enormously high, and it is a market where making any significant inroads to growing market share is highly difficult.

For 25 years Burger King has been telling Kiwis they cook with flames.

It hasn’t worked.

Less than 20% of Kiwis believed them.

But the research was clear: convince people that their burger was cooked over flames and they’ll perceive it as fresher, tastier and higher quality.

We all know that every summer, millions of flame grills are rolled out in backyards across NZ. For Kiwis, the summer and flame grilled food go hand in hand.

So, it was decided to harness the nation’s love of their BBQs to convince them once and for all that BK cook their burgers over real flames.

Hundreds of New Zealanders were given the opportunity to open a BK in their own backyard and cook burgers the way they do. Not with hi-tech, limited edition flames, but the same flames you’d find in the BBQ on your back deck. Suddenly every home with a BBQ had the potential to become the home of the Whopper.

The response from the campaign was overwhelming, with more than 23,000 entries in just 12 weeks – almost 4x the target.

Sales lifted to a 22-year high proving, once and for all, that a true Whopper can only be made using real flames.