Burger King Corporation Unveils Strategic Plan to Redefine Company and Fuel Brand Growth.

Business Editors

DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 9, 2003

BURGER KING(R) Brand to Focus on consumers' tastes, Fire

Grilled, "best in category" burgers and new innovative

great tasting healthier alternatives.

Burger King Corporation Chief Executive Officer Brad Blum announced a new strategic direction for the BURGER KING(R) brand which he outlined at the Company's annual Business Information Meeting with franchisees in Dallas, Texas.

Mr. Blum unveiled a future vision and achievable milestones around more than a dozen initiatives that will emphasize the brand's fire grilled advantage in ways that will differentiate the brand in the minds of the consumer.

"We are BURGER KING and we will have the best burgers in the business, as well as healthier alternatives cooked over an open fire," said Brad Blum, CEO, Burger King Corporation. "We have a reputation for being number two. The only place we will accept being second is to consumers' grilling in their own backyards."

The initiatives include both a short and long term vision that will raise the company's level of service and visibility through a variety of new strategic initiatives. The initiatives include new and different marketing communications. Specifically, the company unveiled a long term branding campaign built around :30 and :60 second radio and television commercials and an advertising approach built around new product offerings as well as much-loved favorites like the WHOPPER(R). The new innovative messages use a combination of humor, a passion for fire grilling, coupled with great food shots to build craving.

Burger King Corporation also said it will increase the use of network television. The new spots provide consumers with an emotional connection to BURGER KING food previously unseen in the brand's advertising.

Additionally, the company set milestones around operational excellence. Vowing to become the category leader in such fundamentals as quality of food, cleanest, safest restaurants, speed of service and well-staffed restaurants with trained restaurant teams to enhance the BURGER KING guest experience.

The company also unveiled a new Guest Trac program that will help its restaurant owners and managers measure progress towards these goals. The company emphasized the value of each consumer and set ambitious goals in bringing back to BURGER KING every consumer interested in fire grilled, fresh, high quality, great tasting food.

Mr. Blum went on to detail the need to ensure that BURGER KING consumers would be so motivated with the great tasting food options that they would ignite a word of mouth advertising campaign.

"One happy guest at our restaurants will tell at least five other friends and family members of their positive experience at BURGER KING," said Bob Nilsen, president Burger King Corporation.

The company also reiterated its move away from discounting citing consumer research showing that they believe value to be much more than price.

"As I said publicly within the first hour after I took office as CEO, long-term, indiscriminate price wars are a bad thing - bad for quality, bad for innovation, bad for reinvestment in the business, bad for everyone's profits, and ultimately bad for the consumer," said Mr. Blum.

The company vowed to become the "Best Franchisor" in the quick service restaurant industry and further stated that its World Headquarters in Miami should now be viewed as the "Restaurant Support Center" whose purpose is to support BURGER KING restaurants.

"I find the new leadership's approach refreshing and invigorating," said Julian Josephson, chairman of the National Franchise Association. "They are in touch with reality and they really do have experience that will make a difference in the restaurant industry."

"The next few months and years should be refreshment, renewal and growth for the BURGER KING brand," Mr. Josephson said.

The company will also simplify its menu and move quickly to further improve the quality of its product offerings all with an eye toward giving the consumer what they want. The company announced it will research and pursue a healthier product menu, but one that unlike other healthy offerings will have great taste as an absolute requirement.

"To get the benefits of healthy food, you have to eat it. And you are only going to eat it if it tastes great," Mr. Blum said. "We stand for great taste and great taste will be an absolute requirement as we look to adding healthier food alternatives to our menu."

"We have seen significant progress in the first 100 days," said Mr. Blum. "We have accomplished a lot, including hiring Young and Rubicam as our advertising agency of record to help us communicate more effectively with consumers. We will soon be airing a new advertising campaign that captures the relevant benefits of our products in compelling ways that feature our fire grilled cooking platform."

The Fire Grilled Advantage

"Through quality, innovation and differentiation, we will change the face of our category by giving our guests what they want," said Mr. Blum. "Fire is at the heart of everything we do, and cooking over an open fire brings out the flavor naturally, creates a better tasting product and provides a healthier alternative. Fire differentiates BURGER KING restaurants from all other restaurants in the QSR industry, and we will innovate and capitalize on our fire grilling cooking method by adding healthier options to the menu."

Roadmap For the Future: Quality, Innovation, Differentiation

Mr. Blum noted that his long-term vision for the Company is to create a new BURGER KING experience for guests by redefining both the Company and the QSR category. He also said that in the future Burger King Corporation will drive revenue and growth by taking innovative actions in the category.

"We will unleash the Company's untapped potential by having genuinely caring and helpful people in our restaurants who are passionate about delighting our guests with great tasting, fire grilled foods served in a warm, welcoming surrounding to each guest every time.

"We have great people, but we don't yet have great results," Mr. Blum said. "Together, we can change this. We will build a clear, strong, differentiated brand through great tasting, healthier products, excellent and consistent operations and highly-effective marketing and advertising."

"Under my leadership, Burger King Corporation will be deeply dedicated to becoming the best quick service restaurant company and the best franchisor in the business," said Mr. Blum. "Our goal is to better serve our restaurants so they may better serve our guests.

About Burger King Corporation:

Burger King Corporation and its franchisees operate more than 11,400 restaurants in all 50 states and 57 countries and territories around the world, with 91 percent of BURGER KING(R) restaurants owned and operated by independent franchisees. Since the company's founding in Miami in 1954, the BURGER KING(R) brand has become recognized for the great taste of Flame broiling, HAVE IT YOUR WAY(R) and the WHOPPER(R). In fiscal year 2002, ending June 30, 2002, the BURGER KING(R) system had system-wide sales of $11.3 billion. Burger King Corporation is owned by the equity sponsor group comprised of Texas Pacific Group, Bain Capital and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners. To learn more about the BURGER KING(R) system, please visit the company's website at www.burgerking.com.