Can Burger King Regain Its Crown

1. Admit the problems openly. Curtis publicly acknowledges Burger King isn't yet an exceptional brand, attributing years of decline largely to neglected, aging restaurants that are expensive to remodel.
2. Simplify operations. Burger King standardized how burgers are built (one consistent layering method) and dropped a 21-step hand-breaded chicken sandwich that distracted kitchens from executing the flagship Whopper well.
3. Put operators in restaurants, not behind spreadsheets. Curtis fortified the field team so support staff visit restaurants in person rather than emailing franchisees checklists and spreadsheets from home.
4. Hold the line on prices despite cost pressure. Even with U.S. beef prices up more than 20% in 2025, Burger King says it has no plans to raise consumer prices, betting that delivering value will capture market share.
5. Listen directly to customers. Curtis posted his personal phone number online, generating 41,000 calls; he personally responded to about 1,500, surfacing complaints about fries, hospitality, and smushed Whoppers.
6. Respect the icon, don't reinvent it. Changes to the decade-unchanged Whopper were deliberately nuanced—creamier mayo, a fluffier glazed bun, and new clamshell packaging—rather than a sweeping recipe overhaul customers didn't want.
7. Align franchisees through evidence. Sharing customer feedback and consumer testing data gave franchisees the conviction to absorb roughly $4,000 in added annual costs per restaurant for packaging and ingredient upgrades.
8. Leadership means accountability and visibility. Curtis argues a brand reflects its leader, who must own mistakes and tell the story personally—even if that means becoming an unexpected social media 'micro influencer.'

The State of Burger King and Tom Curtis's Mandate

Tom Curtis joined Burger King in 2021 as president of the U.S. and Canada, recruited by parent company Restaurant Brands International. He came in knowing the brand had problems, and he is unusually candid about them: he does not believe Burger King is yet an exceptional brand or the best it can be, and says consumers notice that every day. He explicitly does not want consumers to think the company is claiming to be perfect or fixed.

For decades, Burger King held the number two spot among U.S. burger chains behind McDonald's. In 2021, Wendy's overtook it, pushing Burger King to third. It was around that time that RBI brought in Curtis. He had spent his career in fast food, mostly at Domino's, where he helped take the company from a distant number two in pizza to a distant number one—a journey he describes as 'magical' and saw as analogous to the Burger King opportunity.

The mandate was specific. Burger King told Curtis the company was strong at financial analysis, PowerPoint, and spreadsheets, but lacked people who had spent their lives in restaurants and understood 'the heartbeat' of operations. Curtis, who has owned restaurants for 20 years and been an operator throughout his career, was brought in to fix the operational side. There are almost 7,000 Burger King restaurants in the U.S., many franchised, and over recent years the average profitability per U.S. restaurant had fallen.

Curtis frames the emotional core of the turnaround around nostalgia. He recalls getting a paper crown as a kid and being taken to Burger King after games—win or lose—and how often people tell him 'I remember when' about the brand. The goal, he says, is to reignite that love and build a modern, living relationship with Burger King, and it was a matter of finding something to unlock it.

Fixing Operations and Simplifying the Menu

Curtis's first, less-publicized moves focused on the field and the kitchen. He fortified the field team, adding more in-restaurant support and having staff visit restaurants more often rather than 'cooking up spreadsheets from their homes' and sending franchisees checklists of things to do.

Standardizing how food is built

His operations team eliminated inconsistencies in product assembly. As an example, Burger King previously built one double burger as burger-cheese-burger-cheese and another as burger-burger-cheese-cheese. They standardized to one method for all burgers—a simple change that makes restaurants easier to execute.

Dropping the 21-step chicken sandwich

A bigger, emblematic move was eliminating a hand-breaded chicken sandwich that required 21 steps to make. Curtis notes that Burger King is fundamentally a burger brand, and that restaurants were executing poorly on the flagship Whopper because they were distracted by the complex chicken preparation. He concedes the sandwich was spectacular when done correctly, but the bottom line was that the chain couldn't make both it and the world's best burger.

Remodels, Beef Costs, and Pricing

Curtis attributes much of the brand's decline to restaurants being allowed to deteriorate for many years. Remodels are very expensive, and he frames the turnaround as a daily grind in which 'one restaurant becomes a beautiful example of what Burger King can be.' Burger King originally aimed to modernize 85% of its restaurants by 2028, but pulled back from that target because of slowing business and rising costs.

A major cost driver is beef. On an earnings call, Burger King said U.S. beef prices rose more than 20% in 2025, and those costs are expected to remain high. Despite this, Curtis says there are no plans to raise consumer prices. He argues that franchisees and the company are disciplined about price increases when costs rise, because raising prices squeezes operators who aren't growing. He says inflation in the prices charged to consumers is at a two-year low, and that franchisees increasingly believe the path forward is to deliver more value and capture market share rather than raise prices.

Going Viral and the Whopper Bite

Burger King put Curtis front and center on its social media. A roughly two-minute clip of him taking a big bite of a Whopper went viral, partly because it was posted after McDonald's posted its CEO doing the same, and people compared the two side by side. Other burger executives joined the trend.

Curtis insists the video was not built as a response to McDonald's—he says it was 'not remotely ever built for that reason.' He had seen other brands get panned for similar posts and never expected his to be pitted against another. The one intentional element was a later short 'cut down' of his longer video, captioned 'just in case you missed it,' meant to reinforce the genuine love he had for the burger. He admits the genre is tricky: you don't know if you'll come off as genuine, and he worried America might decide it dislikes 'messy eaters.' His PR team jokingly told him he had become a 'super duper micro micro influencer.'

The Listening Line: Direct Customer Feedback

As part of a series of social media stunts, Burger King had Curtis post his personal phone number online, inviting customers to call, text, or leave voicemails. So far the line has received 41,000 calls, and Curtis himself has responded to about 1,500 people. His stated goal was to give people a genuine personal connection with someone who has real influence over the brand.

He recounts one caller from Meadow, Georgia, who said the first thing they see exiting the highway into town is the Burger King, but its sign had been broken for two years, making them feel bad about their town. Curtis says he immediately contacted the field team and franchisee to get it addressed.

The most common complaints he heard included fixing the fries (with callers questioning the oil being used), and a strong desire for more hospitality and friendliness—simple things like a smile, a hello, and 'I'll be right with you.' Curtis calls improving the guest experience one of the biggest opportunities in the business.

Reinventing the Whopper—Carefully

The biggest product change to come out of the listening effort involved the Whopper, whose recipe Burger King had not changed in about 10 years. Curtis stresses that you cannot make big sweeping changes to the most iconic burger in the industry without being extremely thoughtful. The company began studying potential Whopper changes two years ago, and when it asked guests, the response was essentially: don't change it, it doesn't need fixing, we love it.

As a result, the changes are deliberately nuanced. The build stays the same. The mayonnaise is now a little creamier, the bun is fluffier with a glaze that helps sesame seeds stick uniformly, and—most importantly—there's new packaging: a half wrap that holds the burger together and a clamshell box that protects it. This directly addresses the single biggest complaint Curtis heard: that the Whopper was great but arrived 'smushed' at the bottom of the bag.

Curtis explains the packaging had long been avoided because it's a significant input cost for franchisees, who must balance the interests of guests, team members, and their own profitability. Competitors like McDonald's, Wendy's, and Jack in the Box had used boxes for a while, but Burger King had stuck with paper wrap. Realizing the smushing problem was undermining an otherwise superior product gave the company conviction to make the change.

Some franchisees pushed back—some said they couldn't bear the added cost with beef at an all-time high, while others insisted on honoring the Whopper despite the smushing. Ultimately, extensive consumer testing plus the listening-line feedback gave franchisees the conviction to proceed. The upgrades add about $4,000 in annual cost to food and operations at an average Burger King. Because pricing is managed by franchisees, the Whopper's price was not raised as a direct result, and Curtis says the bet that renewed customer love will outweigh the cost is proving 'wildly true.'

Leadership and Brand Philosophy

Curtis emphasizes that the turnaround has been a shared, collaborative journey rather than the work of one person, and that the company has learned together what will make the brand great again. He believes a brand—and what a brand is doing—comes from its leader, who must be where the buck stops: taking accountability for mistakes while confidently pointing in the direction the company is heading.

Having gone viral, Curtis says he has become more open and eager to meet with media and tell Burger King's story, which he describes as good, genuine, and wholesome. His closing conviction is that if you listen intently to the American public, 'there's no way you get that wrong.'