ExceRpt, The Whopper Story

Dave and I stopped by to see it during a return to Miami from one of our many visits with Cramer and Burns in Jacksonville. During the few hours we spent there, neither of us saw a single customer enter the restaurant. Looking for something to do, I walked out of the new Burger King and glanced a block or so up the street. Less than 100 yards away was a drive-in restaurant that had a line of customers standing out front waiting to get served. I noticed a sign advertising a big hamburger, so I decided to walk up the street, have a look, and get in the line. The restaurant was run down, dirty, and the appearance of their serving personnel left a lot to be desired. The parking lot was unpaved so dust blew in as cars drove about, making it unpleasant for the people who were either standing in line or sitting in their cars. The men's room door, which was located on the outside of the building, was barely hanging on one hinge. The place was a mess, but I kept looking at the long line of customers waiting to buy their food. I had to know why these people were crowding the place when a hundred yards down the street the new Burger King had absolutely no business at all. 

Standing in line, I noticed that the customers who were just served were carrying out bags containing some of these large hamburgers. I ordered two of them, one for me and one for Dave who was still down the street. I unwrapped this big hamburger and saw that it consisted of a quarter pound hamburger patty on a big five-inch bun served with lettuce, tomatoes, mayonnaise, pickles, onions, and ketchup. After a few bites it wasn't hard to understand why these customers were carrying them out by the bagful. The hamburger was big and it tasted great. I walked back down the street to the new Burger King still munching that big hamburger and carrying the other one for Dave. I was really impressed with how good it tasted and I wanted to get Dave's opinion. The new Burger King still didn't have any customers and Dave, with nothing more important to do, unwrapped his hamburger and enjoyed it as much as I had. It was at that point that I began to get an idea that would have the most important effect on our business. 

After Dave and I had seen enough of the new prefabricated Burger King, we got in the car and headed south toward Miami and home. Our plan was to have dinner in Ocala at the Brahma Restaurant before continuing on to Miami. Dave always did the driving on our many trips around the stat. I had a small bottle of bourbon in the glove compartment and so I poured a little of it into a 7-Up I had just bought at the gas station. All I could think about was that big, good tasting hamburger I had just eaten and the more I thought about it the more enthusiastic I became about an idea that was building up in my mind.

Feeling in an expansive mood as we were driving through the little community of Micanopy, it occurred to me that it might be a good idea to introduce a big garnished hamburger in our Miami restaurants. I expressed this opinion to Dave, who quickly agreed. I suggested that we call our product a "Whopper" knowing that this would convey imagery of BIG. I also suggested that we put signs, "Home Of The Whopper" under our Burger King name to indicate that our new product was the specialty of the house. We both agreed that this made a lot of sense. We arrived in Miami long after midnight, tired but excited about our plans to add the Whopper to our menu.