4 ms·

The Most Detailed Analysis of Burger King Selling Hot Dogs You’ll Ever Read

47 points by esalazar 11y ago

xlayn 11y ago
I see this as a strategy of expanding horizontally (broaden your menu) vs following the trend of healthy. -You can see it as a move to keep doing what they can do and they are good at while expanding the options they can offer -OTOH how more healthy are the healthy options? most people are aware on how Mc. Salads have more calories than their Big Mac. -How bad is non healthy food when the reference point for showing up how bad fast food is (super size me[0]) can also lead to lose weight[1] [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Size_Me https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Size_Me [1] http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2533353/Forget-Super-Size-Me-Man-loses-37lbs-lowers-cholesterol-eating-McDonalds-three-months.html http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2533353/Forget-Sup...
Shivetya 11y ago
Well considering there are specialty hot dog shops in many areas; I have seen some with individual hot dogs in the six dollar range; I think the only only large chain selling them in the US would be Hardees. Krystal does have their own version and I am sure regional chains might have them. The simple thing is, it gives another meal option to give to both adults and kids. It certainly easier to handle than a burger. Worried about your health, why are you eating out?
- brianwawok 11y ago
  > The simple thing is, it gives another meal option to give to both adults and kids. It certainly easier to handle than a burger. Worried about your health, why are you eating out? False dichotomy. Everyone should be "worried about their health" as you only get 1 health. Plenty of places offer both "eating out" and "reasonably healthy".
  - mhurron 11y ago
    > Plenty of places offer both "eating out" and "reasonably healthy". And these fast food places are not those places. If you go to McDonalds or Burger King or Wendy's for healthy, there really is no other way to say it, you are a moron. You go to those places because you want what they have and it has been very clear for a long time, they are not healthy choices.
  - TwiztidK 11y ago
    Eating healthy comes down to so much more than whether you have a fast food burger/hot dog occasionally. Personally, I think the unhealthiest thing about a burger is the bun or the fries and soda that usually come with it. Very few fast food places have any healthy sides to go with their non-kids meals, which is kind of a shame.
- douche 11y ago
  I have a disgraceful addiction to gas station steamed hotdogs[1], haha. Two dogs and a coffee is still cheaper and better-tasting than any breakfast sandwich deal when you're eating garbage fast food for breakfast. [1] http://www.seriouseats.com/images/2013/01/20130116-hdow-kayems-boiled.jpg http://www.seriouseats.com/images/2013/01/20130116-hdow-kaye...
- wavefunction 11y ago
  Sonic has had hot-dogs as a major component of their menus for some time. Probably Dairy Queen and A+W don't qualify as "large chains" but they also have had hot-dogs as menu mainstays.
danso 11y ago
FWIW, this article has fewer than 1,200 words, just in case you were expecting any kind of in-depth analysis, and not just a tech journalist's opinion of what an "analysis" means (e.g. something not in listicle form). Sorry to sound negative and catty here, it's a problem among journalists and the information they put out for short-attention-span audiences...once something is in scientific research paper PDF format, it's worth writing headlines about; or, if it's longform, then it just must be an exhaustively reported piece that is meaningful. I wanted to give the author/editor the benefit of the doubt, that the headline was merely just a sly joke about "Ha ha this article is surely the most you've ever read about Burger King selling hot dogs because you probably didn't even know BK sold hot dogs did you?" instead of just the result of their in-house analytics about what makes a headline more viral...but even on that scale, it doesn't hold up, unless you really think a huge multinational company doesn't heavily think through sales impact (and production and logistics implications) of introducing something as major as a hot dog (i.e. another meat product). You don't even have to be the type of person who subscribes to The New Yorker and reads their 5,000 word articles about the chemical flavor industry...you could've just remembered that Breaking Bad episode where the guy is taste-testing chicken nuggets and sauces in front of his scientists and gleaned that food -- even hot dogs -- is a business that necessitates a lot of analysis.
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
- blt 11y ago
  Yes, this author must have never read a restaurant industry trade magazine if they think this article is in-depth.
- klenwell 11y ago
  Thanks for the review and saving me of the trouble of checking out the article. This is why I usually come to the comments before clicking TFA, even for ones with headlines that interest me. For anyone looking for an interesting analysis of the fast food industry of the sort danso anticipated with this article, I highly recommend this New Yorker article by Malcolm Gladwell from 2001: http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2001/03/05/the-trouble-with-fries http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2001/03/05/the-trouble-wit... It remains one of my touchstones in understanding the fast-food industry, marketing, and American culture. (I also recommend their 5,000 word article on the chemical flavor industry: http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2009/11/23/the-taste-makers http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2009/11/23/the-taste-maker...)
bluedino 11y ago
Blocked for using an AdBlocker. Thanks, Wired!
- smarks 11y ago
  Too bad. The ads were more interesting than the article. (For example, British Airways' 787 service from SJC to LHR.)
  - kchoudhu 11y ago
    I'm flying that in reverse in a couple of months. I hear good things about it.
  - UweSchmidt 11y ago
    So you're not only being blocked for using and ad blocker, the ad network now follows you back to the forum you came from and tells you about the ad you missed using old, low karma accounts :-)
    - qbrass 11y ago
      It's one of those things you say as a joke, then someone turns around and does it for real.
- callinyouin 11y ago
  Interesting. I'm using Adblock Plus for Chrome on Win7 and was able to view the article just fine.
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]
- soylentcola 11y ago
  uBlock Origin on Firefox and was able to read the article just fine.
PaulHoule 11y ago
Back in 1987 I was working for B.K. and we had hot dogs on the menu, but we cooked them in the microwave at the "spec board" which is the place where chicken sandwiches are made. It was rare to have one ordered, and one time I did one and it burst in an ugly way which drew a customer complaint from the manager "You mean you don't know how to cook a hot dog in the microwave?" to which I countered that I hadn't been trained.
- rubicon33 11y ago
  Random curiosity - What do you do now for work?
- oxide 11y ago
  When I worked at Sonic 10 years ago they sold (and still sell) a footlong hot dog. It's cooked on one of those gas station hot dog rollers. I like a roller cooked hot dog, so I should look into whether or not BK is using rollers to cook them this time around. Can't say I care for a microwaved hot dog all that much.
cthulhujr 11y ago
Good on BK for bucking their recent heath food trend.
josephpmay 11y ago
At least in Los Angeles, hot dogs are very "in" right now. I think Burger King is simply following a trend.
grimmdude 11y ago
Bad timing for this SF location: http://sfist.com/2016/02/23/have_it_your_barf.php http://sfist.com/2016/02/23/have_it_your_barf.php

47 points by esalazar 11y ago

xlayn 11y ago

I see this as a strategy of expanding horizontally (broaden your menu) vs following the trend of healthy. -You can see it as a move to keep doing what they can do and they are good at while expanding the options they can offer -OTOH how more healthy are the healthy options? most people are aware on how Mc. Salads have more calories than their Big Mac. -How bad is non healthy food when the reference point for showing up how bad fast food is (super size me[0]) can also lead to lose weight[1] [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Size_Me https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Size_Me [1] http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2533353/Forget-Super-Size-Me-Man-loses-37lbs-lowers-cholesterol-eating-McDonalds-three-months.html http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2533353/Forget-Sup...

Shivetya 11y ago

Well considering there are specialty hot dog shops in many areas; I have seen some with individual hot dogs in the six dollar range; I think the only only large chain selling them in the US would be Hardees. Krystal does have their own version and I am sure regional chains might have them. The simple thing is, it gives another meal option to give to both adults and kids. It certainly easier to handle than a burger. Worried about your health, why are you eating out?

brianwawok 11y ago
> The simple thing is, it gives another meal option to give to both adults and kids. It certainly easier to handle than a burger. Worried about your health, why are you eating out? False dichotomy. Everyone should be "worried about their health" as you only get 1 health. Plenty of places offer both "eating out" and "reasonably healthy".
- mhurron 11y ago
  > Plenty of places offer both "eating out" and "reasonably healthy". And these fast food places are not those places. If you go to McDonalds or Burger King or Wendy's for healthy, there really is no other way to say it, you are a moron. You go to those places because you want what they have and it has been very clear for a long time, they are not healthy choices.
- TwiztidK 11y ago
  Eating healthy comes down to so much more than whether you have a fast food burger/hot dog occasionally. Personally, I think the unhealthiest thing about a burger is the bun or the fries and soda that usually come with it. Very few fast food places have any healthy sides to go with their non-kids meals, which is kind of a shame.
douche 11y ago
I have a disgraceful addiction to gas station steamed hotdogs[1], haha. Two dogs and a coffee is still cheaper and better-tasting than any breakfast sandwich deal when you're eating garbage fast food for breakfast. [1] http://www.seriouseats.com/images/2013/01/20130116-hdow-kayems-boiled.jpg http://www.seriouseats.com/images/2013/01/20130116-hdow-kaye...
wavefunction 11y ago
Sonic has had hot-dogs as a major component of their menus for some time. Probably Dairy Queen and A+W don't qualify as "large chains" but they also have had hot-dogs as menu mainstays.

danso 11y ago

FWIW, this article has fewer than 1,200 words, just in case you were expecting any kind of in-depth analysis, and not just a tech journalist's opinion of what an "analysis" means (e.g. something not in listicle form). Sorry to sound negative and catty here, it's a problem among journalists and the information they put out for short-attention-span audiences...once something is in scientific research paper PDF format, it's worth writing headlines about; or, if it's longform, then it just must be an exhaustively reported piece that is meaningful. I wanted to give the author/editor the benefit of the doubt, that the headline was merely just a sly joke about "Ha ha this article is surely the most you've ever read about Burger King selling hot dogs because you probably didn't even know BK sold hot dogs did you?" instead of just the result of their in-house analytics about what makes a headline more viral...but even on that scale, it doesn't hold up, unless you really think a huge multinational company doesn't heavily think through sales impact (and production and logistics implications) of introducing something as major as a hot dog (i.e. another meat product). You don't even have to be the type of person who subscribes to The New Yorker and reads their 5,000 word articles about the chemical flavor industry...you could've just remembered that Breaking Bad episode where the guy is taste-testing chicken nuggets and sauces in front of his scientists and gleaned that food -- even hot dogs -- is a business that necessitates a lot of analysis.

deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
blt 11y ago
Yes, this author must have never read a restaurant industry trade magazine if they think this article is in-depth.
klenwell 11y ago
Thanks for the review and saving me of the trouble of checking out the article. This is why I usually come to the comments before clicking TFA, even for ones with headlines that interest me. For anyone looking for an interesting analysis of the fast food industry of the sort danso anticipated with this article, I highly recommend this New Yorker article by Malcolm Gladwell from 2001: http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2001/03/05/the-trouble-with-fries http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2001/03/05/the-trouble-wit... It remains one of my touchstones in understanding the fast-food industry, marketing, and American culture. (I also recommend their 5,000 word article on the chemical flavor industry: http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2009/11/23/the-taste-makers http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2009/11/23/the-taste-maker...)

bluedino 11y ago

Blocked for using an AdBlocker. Thanks, Wired!

smarks 11y ago
Too bad. The ads were more interesting than the article. (For example, British Airways' 787 service from SJC to LHR.)
- kchoudhu 11y ago
  I'm flying that in reverse in a couple of months. I hear good things about it.
- UweSchmidt 11y ago
  So you're not only being blocked for using and ad blocker, the ad network now follows you back to the forum you came from and tells you about the ad you missed using old, low karma accounts :-)
  - qbrass 11y ago
    It's one of those things you say as a joke, then someone turns around and does it for real.
callinyouin 11y ago
Interesting. I'm using Adblock Plus for Chrome on Win7 and was able to view the article just fine.
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
soylentcola 11y ago
uBlock Origin on Firefox and was able to read the article just fine.

PaulHoule 11y ago

Back in 1987 I was working for B.K. and we had hot dogs on the menu, but we cooked them in the microwave at the "spec board" which is the place where chicken sandwiches are made. It was rare to have one ordered, and one time I did one and it burst in an ugly way which drew a customer complaint from the manager "You mean you don't know how to cook a hot dog in the microwave?" to which I countered that I hadn't been trained.

rubicon33 11y ago
Random curiosity - What do you do now for work?
oxide 11y ago
When I worked at Sonic 10 years ago they sold (and still sell) a footlong hot dog. It's cooked on one of those gas station hot dog rollers. I like a roller cooked hot dog, so I should look into whether or not BK is using rollers to cook them this time around. Can't say I care for a microwaved hot dog all that much.

cthulhujr 11y ago

Good on BK for bucking their recent heath food trend.

josephpmay 11y ago

At least in Los Angeles, hot dogs are very "in" right now. I think Burger King is simply following a trend.

grimmdude 11y ago

Bad timing for this SF location: http://sfist.com/2016/02/23/have_it_your_barf.php http://sfist.com/2016/02/23/have_it_your_barf.php