Burger King Sweetens America's Morning With New Cini-minis.

MIAMI, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 27, 1998--Burger King(R) will sweeten America's morning with the launch of its newest permanent breakfast addition, bite-size "Cini-minis" cinnamon rolls, beginning Monday, April 27th. Available at participating Burger King(R) restaurants nationwide, Cini-minis are the heart of the cinnamon roll served hot with icing on the side.

EATING ON THE GO

With more than 30% of Americans eating their morning meal outside of the home, breakfast has become a growing contributor to Burger King Corporation's overall business.

"Breakfast eating habits of Americans have changed dramatically over the past decade; today, more than one third of consumers say they fuel up with breakfast in their cars," said Jim Watkins, senior vice president of Marketing for Burger King Corporation. "By enhancing our breakfast menu with tasty and convenient value items like Cini-minis, we are able to meet customers' breakfast needs created by their changing lifestyles."

FREE SAMPLING EVENT

To encourage customers to sample the new product, Burger King(R) will offer "Cini-mini Saturday," May 16 from 6am-11am. Participating Burger King(R) restaurants across the country will give away a free sample order of Cini-minis to every man, woman and child who visit its restaurants. The offer includes two fresh-baked Cini-minis along with a side of icing. The nationwide sampling event is a bona fide free offer-- no strings attached.

"Customers have come to expect the unexpected from Burger King(R), first with Free Fryday and now Cini-mini Saturday," said Watkins referring to the January 2nd french fry giveaway, the largest single product sampling event in fast food history. "We anticipate customer demand to try the new breakfast product will be double the traffic volume of a regular Saturday. To compensate, we are calling in extra crew members and have deployed our Corporate staff to the restaurants."

PILLSBURY DEVELOPED PRODUCT

Pillsbury, which leads the U.S. market for refrigerated doughs, created the new Cini-minis recipe exclusively for Burger King. Baked fresh daily on the restaurant premises, bite-size Cini-minis taste like home-made cinnamon rolls and are served hot with a side of icing so customers can have it "their way." The four-piece serving is available at a special introductory price of 99 cents.

"We are proud to partner with Pillsbury, which, like Burger King, is synonymous with great taste," said Watkins.

This is the not the first time Burger King and Pillsbury have partnered on breakfast projects. In fact, the new biscuit, featured in the Burger King(R) biscuit sandwich that was launched in 1996, is a Pillsbury product.

Burger King Corporation and its franchisees operate more than 9,500 restaurants in all 50 states and 56 countries and international territories around the world. In fiscal year 1997 Burger King had systemwide sales of $9.8 billion. Both Burger King and Pillsbury are subsidiaries of Diageo plc, one of the world's leading branded consumer products businesses. -0-

                          BREAKFAST FUN FACTS

--   The number of breakfasts eaten at the office, "deskfasts" doubled
     between 1990 and 1996, with the average U.S. worker eating at the
     office 15 times a year. Source: NPD Group

--   The growth of office breakfasts is due to consumers' lack of time
     to assemble a scratch breakfast and their need to get to work
     earlier. Source: Food Technology, February 1998

--   Of those consumers who purchase breakfast away from home, nearly
     one-third of consumers eat breakfast in their cars, making the
     auto the most popular place outside the home to fuel up for the
     day. Source: National Restaurant Association

--   Americans spend $16 million on breakfast foods, and the fast food
     industry credits breakfast with 24% of its growth during the past
     five years. Source: Food Technology February 1998

--   Over the last 9 years there has been a 25% increase in Americans'
     consumption of sweet rolls and sweet muffins. Source: Food
     Institute Report, June 1997

--   More than one in three adult Americans (36%) say they've eaten
     leftover pizza for breakfast in the past month. Source: Roper
     Starch Worldwide, Inc., The Public Pulse, March 1997

--   30% of Americans eat breakfast outside of the home and of that
     group, half of them take it to go. Source: 1996 Gallup Survey of
     Americans' breakfast behavior

--   In 2700 B.C., Cinnamon was acquired by the ancient Greeks and
     Romans from Arabian traders, and at one time in ancient Rome the
     spice was more costly than its weight in gold. Source: The Plain
     Dealer, September 1997

--   The Pillsbury Dough Boy was created in 1965 and today he receives
     among the highest awareness and likability ratings for
     food/beverage brand characters. Source: Marketing Evaluations,
     Inc. 1997

--   Together Pillsbury biscuits and sweet rolls account for 50% of
     total Refrigerated Baked Goods volume. Source: Nielsen November
     1997

--   Americans with more education and higher incomes are more likely
     to eat breakfast. So are older people and southerners. Source:
     U.S. News & World Report, November 1997

--   Burger King(R) serves over 407 million ounces of Orange Juice
     each year to customers across the U.S. Source: Burger King
     Corporation

--   Each year Burger King(R)restaurants in the U.S. use over 330
     million eggs for their breakfast products. Source: Burger King
     Corporation

--   Yearly, over 102 million ounces of milk are served for breakfast
     at Burger King(R) restaurants across the U.S. Source: Burger King
     Corporation

--   In the U.S. Burger King(R)prepares 981,983 pounds of bacon per
     year, for breakfast. Source: Burger King Corporation

--   Over 165 million French Toast sticks are sold yearly at Burger
     King(R)restaurants in the U.S. Source: Burger King Corporation

--   Yearly, Burger King(R) uses over 297 million croissants to its
     most popular breakfast menu item, the CROISSAN'WICH. Source:
     Burger King Corporation

--   Orange Juice owns two thirds (67%) of the Juice/Drinks/Ades
     Breakfast Market. Source: National Eating Trends, August 1997

--   Eggs, Pancakes and Bacon are more popular at weekend breakfasts.
     Source: National Eating Trends, August 1997

CONTACT: Kim Miller, 305/378-7277