Burger King Launches First-Ever Veggie Burger

Burger King Corporation (BKC) and its franchisees are breaking new ground in the Fast Food category with the national launch of BK VEGGIE™ burger -- the first veggie burger available nationally at a quick service Restaurant chain. The BK VEGGIE™ burger features the great flame-broiled taste Americans know and love from BURGER KING® restaurants, along with a newly introduced reduced fat mayonnaise.

The new BK VEGGIE™ burger will debut in BURGER KING® restaurants on Monday, March 18, 2002, and features a flame-broiled veggie burger patty with a delicious blend of garden fresh vegetables, whole-grains and spices, topped with lettuce, tomatoes and reduced-fat mayonnaise, all on a sesame seed bun.

"This is a very exciting product introduction and menu enhancement that our customers told us they want from BURGER KING," said John H. Dasburg, chairman, CEO and president, Burger King Corporation. "By flame-broiling the BK VEGGIE™ burger we assure our customers that now they can have a veggie burger that tastes great."

"We are constantly looking for ways to add new taste and variety to our menu," said Christopher E. Clouser, executive vice president and chief global marketing officer for Burger King Corporation. "BK VEGGIE™ burger is a completely new offering for a national fast food chain -- something we know our consumers will enjoy, even avid hamburger lovers."

"The introduction of the BK VEGGIE™ burger, along with the 13 other new and improved products we have launched recently, is very exciting for the BURGER KING system," said Julian Josephson, chairman, National Franchisee Association, an association of BURGER KING® franchisees. "These products will allow us to provide our customers with greater variety and more reasons to visit our restaurants.

BK VEGGIE™ burger is a permanent addition to the BURGER KING® restaurant menu, and its recommended price is $1.99. The introduction will be supported with a series of television commercials that feature several of the new products Burger King Corporation is launching, including the new BK VEGGIE™ burger, as well as a full-page ad in USA Today on March 18.

The addition of BK VEGGIE™ burger to the ever-expanding BURGER KING® menu reinforces the brand's new advertising tagline, "@BKYOU GOT IT!™," which was designed to boldly and emphatically showcase that each BURGER KING® restaurant delivers a variety of great tastes your way.

"'@BK, YOU GOT IT!™' is more than just an advertising tagline, it's our company philosophy," said Clouser. "For example, since the new BK VEGGIE™ burger comes with reduced fat mayonnaise -- you can now order reduced-fat mayonnaise on any of the sandwiches on our menu, including the WHOPPER® sandwich. At Burger King you can always 'HAVE IT YOUR WAY®'."

"With the addition of our new ingredient ... reduced fat mayonnaise ... the number of ways to order and enjoy a WHOPPER® sandwich now grows from 1024 to 1,537," Clouser said. The new reduced fat mayonnaise contains only three grams of fat, bring the total grams of fat for the BK VEGGIE™ burger to just ten grams. The new BK VEGGIE™ burger is also made without soy.

With its nine original special ingredients (sesame seed bun heel and crown, beef patty, pickles, ketchup, onions, tomatoes, lettuce, and mayonnaise) and three optional ingredients (cheese, bacon and mustard), Burger King Corporation calculated in the mid-seventies that there were 1,024 ways to order a WHOPPER®. The variety of ways to have a WHOPPER® sandwich prompted the company to introduce the "HAVE IT YOUR WAY®" advertising tagline in 1974 with a song that started with the lyrics, "Hold the pickle, hold the lettuce, special orders don't upset us." Over the years, Burger King Corporation has reprised this popular tune in its advertising several times.

Burger King Corporation created the American icon, the "HOME OF THE WHOPPER®", in 1957. The company and its franchisees operate more than 11,435 restaurants in all 50 states and 57 countries and international territories around the world, with more than 92% o BURGER KING® restaurants owned and operated by independent franchisees. Since the company's founding in Miami in 1954, the BURGER KING® brand has become recognized for great flame-broiled taste and "HAVE IT YOUR WAY®" food customization. In fiscal year 2001, the BURGER KING® system had system-wide sales of $11.2 billion.