Burger King Archives - The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit

Apr272015 by Chris Holmes2 Comments

Fantastic Coca-Cola Star Wars/Burger Chef Posters (1977)

Ephemera

Growing up I was intimately familiar with the great sets of Star Wars drinking glasses sold at Burger King, with the Empire Strikes Back collection being my favorite. If you need a reminder, here's an ad for the 1977 edition: But what I didn't know about until very recently was the series of beautiful posters from which the design on those glasses was borrowed. Although these are listed as being produced for Burger Chef rather than Burger King. The artwork on these four beauties is credited to Del Nichols, and boy did he do one hell of a job. Let's look: Del Nichols These are all so very gorgeous, but if I had to pick a favorite I'd go with the Darth Vader poster, featuring Grand Moff Tokin. As great as the original movie posters are, I'd hang these bad b...

Feb92015 by Chris HolmesNo Comments

Vintage 1983 Radio Shack Burger King AM Radio

Auction Finds

With the recent news of venerable electronics retailer Radio Shack's Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing -- and likely demise -- I was inspired to hit the usual auction sites to see what kind of Radio Shack branded stuff I could find. I was not disappointed with the results, which include this great AM radio with headphones that was made by Radio Shack and distributed at Burger King outlets in 1983. As you can see this radio was really a promotional item for the Whopper, and features Burger King's "Aren't You Hungry?" slogan from the early-to-mid 1980s. The back of the packaging features a detailed breakdown of the Whopper, as well as a nice black and white illustration of the standard BK franchise design that lasted through the decade at least. What isn't immediately visible fro...

Jul182013 by Chris HolmesNo Comments

Great Photo of a Vintage 1960s Burger King Sign in the Wild

Photography

I stumbled across this interesting black and white photo on eBay. It depicts what is otherwise a pretty ordinary street scene in North Charleston, South Carolina in the 1960s. But look closer, and you'll see what caught my eye: Yes sir, that is indeed a vintage Burger King sign on the right. Now if you recall from my fast food burger chain logo gallery, the king on top of the burger BK logo was in use from roughly 1957 through 1969. Given the look of some of the cars in the picture, however, I'm going to peg this from the mid-to-late '60s period. If only this were a color photo, that would be oh so sweet. But still, it's pretty cool.

Mar212013 by Chris HolmesNo Comments

The Evolution of Fast Food Burger Chain Logos: The Video

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I just had so much gosh darn fun putting together my retrospective of fast food burger chain logos that I decided to turn it into a YouTube slideshow. Because some people just love slideshows. And as a special bonus I included audio extracts from vintage TV ads for some of the chains, like McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, Dairy Queen, Arby's, Sonic, Jack in the Box, Hardee's, Carl's Jr., and Checkers/Rally's. Enjoy!

Mar52013 by Chris Holmes8 Comments

The Evolution of Fast Food Logos: Top 10 Burger Chains Edition

Advertising, Featured Posts

I know I'm certainly not the first person on the internet to post a gallery showing the history of fast food logos. But I'll be honest -- a lot of the other ones I've seen have been half-hearted at best, completely lazy and misleading at worst. So here's my attempt to remedy that. Here is my turn at a gallery showing the evolution of fast food logos, featuring the top ten largest chains in America (measured by number of locations in 2010). Dates on some of these logos are estimated, as exact years are difficult to come by for some. If anyone has higher-resolution versions please let me know. #1. McDonald's (est. 1940) The restaurant that became McDonald's was started in 1937 in Monrovia, California by Patrick J. McDonald, and sold burgers and orange juice. In 1940 his sons Maurice and...

Nov152012 by Chris HolmesNo Comments

Vintage Burger King Logos Help Celebrate the Anniversary of the Whopper

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Unbeknownst to me until last weekend, Burger King is raising a big fuss to celebrate the 55th year of its Whopper sandwich. I've been known to patronize their restaurant from time to time, so imagine my delight when I saw that they're splashing their old logos all over their food packaging. Below are scans I took recently, featuring vintage Burger King logos of the past: This is the original Burger King logo, and dates from the around very beginning of the franchise -- once known as Insta-Burger King -- in 1955 all the way through the 1960s. You can get a larger version here. Here's the next version of the mascot -- apparently also known as Kurger Bing according to Wikipedia -- which debuted in 1971. He lasted until the late '70s, when he was replaced by the more realistic-lo...

Jun192012 by Chris Holmes2 Comments

A Fast Food Training Video Roundup

Feb92012 by Chris HolmesNo Comments

McDonald’s and Burger King Wish You a Happy and Groovy Valentine’s Day!

Ephemera

It's almost Valentine's Day once again, which means love is in the air. Well, love and greasy fried crap. So to celebrate Fast Food Love, American Style, let's check out this gallery of Valentine's Day cards from McDonald's and Burger King. Up first is a set from the McDonaldland gang, circa 1973/74. For an even groovier Valentine's Day experience let's take a left turn to the Burger King Kingdom, where the visage of the Burger King beams at us from this set of postcards. These were produced in 1972 and feature a clean-shaven, decidedly un-scary King. (card scans via Flickr user Waffle Whiffer)

Nov12011 by Chris Holmes2 Comments

1974 Burger King ads offer a study in contrasts

Advertising, Retrotisements

Here we have two 1974 Burger King ads, both from the same "Have It Your Way" campaign. They both feature BK employees wearing the same groove-tastic uniforms, and they were both shot at the same location. But see if you can spot the subtle difference in the way the two spots are produced and targeted. #1 -- Super Soulful BK #2 -- Super White Bread BK Now, crafting ads to appeal to a certain demographic is nothing new, so I'm not casting judgment here. All I'm saying is that if the BK from the first ad still existed today, I would eat there EVERY DAY. I would sit back, cram another Whopper down my gullet, and watch the Supremes-esque cashiers serenade me with their soulful voices. And I would be 300 pounds in no time.