There’s a specific rhythm to a Burger King restaurant during lunch. Trays move across counters, a headset crackles with orders somewhere near the drive-thru window, and the air is filled with the aroma of flame-grilled beef. As you watch that scene, you can’t help but wonder how frequently the company’s executives really go through it. That question abruptly became a topic of discussion around the world for Tom Curtis, the man in charge of Burger King in North America.
The moment came subtly but quickly spread. A brief clip of Curtis chomping down on a Whopper surfaced online. Curtis was wearing a brown apron that was stamped with the words “Flame Grilling Since 1954,” and the footage was shot in an informal, almost purposeful manner.
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Company | Burger King |
| Current Parent Company | Restaurant Brands International |
| Key Executive | Tom Curtis |
| Role | President, Burger King U.S. & Canada |
| Global CEO (Parent Company) | Joshua Kobza |
| Headquarters | Miami-Dade County, Florida, USA |
| Founded | 1954 (as Burger King) |
| Signature Product | Whopper |
| Global Locations | 19,000+ restaurants |
| Reference | https://www.bk.com |
There were questions about the timing. A competitor of McDonald’s had gone viral a few days prior for taking what many viewers characterized as a cautious nibble of his company’s newest burger. Curtis, however, bent forward and took a distinctly large bite.
That moment might have been well-planned. Fast-food restaurants have a long history of competing in theaters as well as on menus. With a history dating back decades to the notorious “burger wars” advertising campaigns of the 1970s and 1980s, Burger King essentially built its reputation on a lighthearted rivalry with McDonald’s. Curtis’s contemplative chewing in that video gives the impression that the company knew exactly how the internet might respond.
Unlike some tech executives, Curtis is not a celebrity CEO. Due to years of operational work in major restaurant chains, his career has been more subdued. He assisted in managing franchise operations and brand strategy prior to taking the helm of Burger King’s North American division.
His coworkers frequently characterize him as practical rather than ostentatious. That type of personality can be advantageous in the fast food industry. Restaurants rely on minutiae, not lofty speeches, such as fryer temperatures, inventory counts, and timings.
Naturally, Burger King is a big business. With tens of thousands of locations in more than 100 countries, the chain, which started in Florida in the 1950s, has expanded to become one of the biggest fast-food chains in the world. Arriving in 1957, the Whopper, its signature sandwich, never really left. The sandwich, a marginally bigger and smokier version of the competition, continues to be the focal point of the business’s identity to this day.
Nevertheless, the business has a convoluted past. Over the years, ownership has changed several times, going through investment firms and corporate behemoths before joining Restaurant Brands International. Burger King occasionally overtook rivals like McDonald’s or Wendy’s, then faltered once more. Investors now know to keep a cautiously optimistic eye on the brand.
A visit to a contemporary Burger King location today demonstrates the extent to which the company is evolving. Near the entrance, self-service kiosks glow. Near pickup shelves, delivery drivers congregate. Rotating pictures of burgers dripping with sauce are displayed on digital screens above the counter.
In an effort to modernize stores following the disruption of the pandemic years, the company has been renovating restaurants under programs called “Refresh” and “Sizzle.”
Curtis has played a significant role in those developments by advocating for improvements in store layout and technology. Additionally, there is a renewed emphasis on client feedback. At one point, the business even ran a campaign urging consumers to text or call a Curtis-related phone number to express their opinions about the company.
On the surface, the idea of an executive creating a direct line to customers seemed almost charming. But something more intricate was revealed when you read the fine print. Like many contemporary programs, the feedback system fed data into artificial intelligence-powered data analysis tools.
It appears that contemporary fast-food marketing is characterized by this conflict between corporate machinery and authenticity. Although the systems behind the scenes are becoming more automated and data-driven, companies still want leaders who seem approachable and human. There’s a hint of that balancing act when you watch Curtis in that Whopper video. Although the moment seems unplanned, it also feels well-staged.
It’s difficult to ignore how social media has altered executives’ behavior. A fast-food CEO might hardly ever show up in public outside of investor meetings twenty years ago. These days, they appear on Instagram feeds, occasionally consuming the very goods they advertise. Every bite and every expression turns into a little performance.
It’s still unclear if Burger King actually changed anything as a result of the Whopper video. Moments that go viral quickly fade. However, the video did something intriguing: it served as a reminder that people, sometimes in an awkward way, are trying to represent huge, international brands.
It seems as though the fast-food industry has entered an odd new era as you watch the entire episode. CEOs now do more than just manage businesses. Additionally, they are characters in a continuous digital story in which a simple burger bite can spark a day or two of online activity. And that may be precisely the point in a business that relies on attention and appetite.