Whopper

The Whopper is the signature hamburger and an associated product line sold by the international fast food restaurant chain Burger King and its Australian franchise Hungry Jack's. Introduced in 1957, the hamburger has undergone several reformulations, including changes to portion size and bread used. The hamburger is well known in the fast food industry, with Burger King advertising itself as "the Home of the Whopper" and naming its kiosk stores the BK Whopper Bar. In response to the Whopper, Burger King's competitors have developed similar products designed to compete against it. Burger King sells several variants that are either seasonal or tailored to local tastes or customs. To promote the product, the restaurant occasionally releases limited-time variants. It is often at the center of advertising promotions, product tie-ins, and corporate practical jokes and hoaxes. History The Whopper was created in 1957 by Burger King co-founder James McLamore and originally sold for 37 US cents (equivalent to US$ in ). McLamore created the burger after he noticed that a rival restaurant in Gainesville, Florida was succeeding by selling a larger burger. Believing that the success of the rival product was its size, he devised the Whopper, naming it so because he thought it conveyed "imagery of something big". Major fast food chains did not release a similar product, until the McDonald's Quarter Pounder and the Burger Chef Big Shef in the early 1970s. Initially, the sandwich was made with a plain bun; however, that changed when the company switched to a sesame-seeded bun around 1970. In 1985, the weight of the Whopper was increased to , while the bun was replaced by a Kaiser roll. This was part of a program to improve the product and was accompanied by a US$30 million (US$ million in ) advertising campaign featuring various celebrities such as Mr. T and Loretta Swit. The goal of the program was to help differentiate the company and its products from those of its competitors. The Whopper reverted to its previous size in 1987 when a new management team took over the company and reverted many of the changes initiated prior to 1985. In 1994, the Whopper sandwich's Kaiser roll reverted to a sesame seed bun, eliminating the last trace of the sandwich's 1985 reconfiguration.