As Burger King Struggles, McDonald's Thrives by "Leanwashing"

To be upfront, Burger King hasn't really died. It's just moving away — most likely to Brazil, India, and other up-and-coming markets, according to the London Telegraph. BK, as its super fans know it, was recently sold to a group of private investors, 3G, led by Brazilian billionaire Jorge Paulo Lemann. Among the new owners' plans are to open 500 new restaurants in Latin America over the next five years. The sale for $3.26 billion will become finalized over the next year and moves the company from public to private. BK's in the U.S. will still churn out flame-broiled burgers, but will likely continue to flounder as the company's new owners focus on building the brand abroad.

Why should we, as sustainable foodies, care what happens to Burger King? First off, it's National Childhood Obesity Awareness month, and if you don't think that cartoon mascots and toys in kids meals play a role in the epidemic, well, welcome to the world. But interesting facts have come out during Burger King's sale that tell us a lot about food trends in general and speak to both the successes and upcoming challenges real food advocates may face.

Burger King, once seen as McDonald's main competitor, chose the marketing strategy of focusing on the aforementioned "super fans." These are men, ages 18-to-35, who account for half of all visits to Burger King, but make up less than a quarter of the chain's customers. Obviously this advertising plan didn't exactly pan out: In the last few years, Burger King's stock has fallen about six percent; McDonald's is up by a whopping 111 percent.

While BK courted its most loyal customers, McDonald's expanded its menu to include things like smoothies and coffee drinks. It started offering new salads and fruit with kids' meals. But don't get too excited by these seemingly healthy options: More often than not, customers at Mickey D's order off the Dollar Menu, which a nutritionist told the New York Times "really appears as a good bargain" but "if you're looking at it as how many nutrients are you getting for a dollar, it's the least economical." Essentially, McDonald's changed its image and took the convenient line of thinking that "People can make the decisions about how to eat for themselves." Then it lowered the price on all its most unhealthy vittles.

Herein lies the paradoxical success and challenge of the sustainable food movement: In what's akin to greenwashing, McDonald's has positioned itself as responsive to consumers' calls for healthier food. But by reducing the prices of items where half of the calories come from fat, it arguably targets the poorest, hungriest customers and provides them with a so-called meal bereft of nutritional value.  A recent photography project by Sally Davies shows the progression of a McDonald's Happy Meal for 137 days. It looks only slightly smaller and wilted than it did on day one. The implication is that the high fat and salt content combined with the lack of nutrients allows the Happy Meal to preserve itself.

Like Davies' Happy Meal, McDonald's is living off its fat. I doubt that many readers of this blog routinely eat at McDonald's, but its important to note that the company is content to brag about offering healthier menu options while it slyly sells its usual, fatty fare at lower prices than ever. This campaign essentially defeated McDonald's leading competitor, and other fast food and chain restaurants are sure to take note. Beware: I'll call the strategy "leanwashing,"  and I'll bet my dollars that its coming soon to a Pizza Hut or Jack in the Box near you.

Photo credit: Virtual Ern via Flickr