Burger King's Getting Better — But Its Customers Want More

Burger King is in its Comeback Era. This year, the chain has doubled down on improving things in a big way, and despite some of the awkwardness of the way it’s done this, it’s nice to see a major fast food chain being so open about its desire to get better. Just a couple of days ago, we were discussing its new team member roles and Whopper Guarantee, which seemed to demonstrate this isn’t just a flash-in-the-pan desire to tweak a few things and be done with it. Well, we hope, at least.

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But there’s always room for improvement, and customers have recently pitched in about it all. Redditors recently let us know where they thought Burger King was getting stuff right; now, they’re telling us where they need to focus next.

The People Have Spoken

In a Reddit thread posted a few weeks back, the person who kicked it all off started by saying that they’re a recent returner to Burger King: “ I am loving the resurgence with the new Whopper quality.” Then, they asked what other people wanted to see it change, that the chain could actually execute.

Their personal suggestion was bigger sauce tub sizes, which does feel like an easy win for the chain (although possibly logistically difficult): Nudging its sauce capacity up by a few millimeters could help it stand out from the likes of McDonald’s, and give a sense of generosity. Another person said that its sauces in general need an overhaul, citing Subway and its garlic aioli as a competitor that gets it right. This suggestion taps into an industry-wide push towards more abundant and better sauce options – KFC’s been going big on this recently – and again, it’s not unachievable in the medium-term for Burger King.

Others, though, called for some of its menu items to get the same treatment as its Whopper – ie., they need to be made better. Commenters in the thread mentioned its onion rings, fries, and chicken as all needing improvement. BK may be one step ahead of them here: A few months ago, we talked about its change to its onion rings and fries, both in Canada – and it could well be that the US market sees these alterations soon, too.

Make The Throwbacks Good

One customer’s comment, though, really stood out: “When you say you’re bringing something back, bring back the actual product not a shape.” If I were a betting man, I’d say this is a clear reference to its crown-shaped nuggets, which came back this year, and which were utterly derided by customers. Fast food chains have a habit of doing this at the moment: Leaning on nostalgia, but not actually delivering the goods (Taco Bell did it with its Enchirito), and people have long memories.

So, there you are, Burger King. Ball’s in your court.