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High-ranking employees at fast food companies have plenty of incentive to hype up their offerings. However, the man who currently serves as the president of Burger King has admitted the chain has some work to do when it comes to one menu item he avoids eating.
No country on the planet has mastered the art of fast food quite like the United States, and the American burger joints that were at the vanguard of that culinary movement have historically boasted a “Big 3” that consists of McDonald’s, Wendy’s, and Burger King.
The first member of that trio is the undisputed champ of the fast food game; Subway may currently boast more locations, but Mickey D’s reigns supreme when it comes to global revenue. Burger King spent decades playing second fiddle before Wendy’s came for the crown close to 15 years ago, and as of 2024, it had secured the second spot on the podium as BK settled for third.
The corporate executives who oversee those chains are constantly scheming to figure out ways to gain an edge on the competition, which includes the development of new items as well as tweaks to improve the ones that are already on the menu.
Now, it would appear a longtime staple of the one at Burger King will be the subject of an overhaul based on what its president had to say about its current state.
Burger King’s president is determined to improve the chicken nuggets he admits he doesn’t enjoy eating
Burger King has a history stretching back to 1953, which is when the chain of restaurants that was originally known as “Insta-Burger King” opened for business in Jacksonville, Florida while luring customers in with the flaming broilers that were designed to set their signature offering apart from the pack.
In 1983, McDonald’s released McNuggets on an unsuspecting world, and two years later, Burger King got in on the poultry action with the chicken tenders it rolled out. In 2005, they introduced the incredibly popular Chicken Fries before supplementing that offering with crown-shaped nuggets the following year, but run-of-the-mill nuggets have been the standard since 2013.
In March, Burger King released a video featuring its president, Tom Curtis, who noted customers had flooded the feedback line he’d created the previous month with plenty of comments bemoaning the current state of their chicken nuggets.
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During a recent interview with The New York Post, he acknowledged he sympathized with those critics while admitting he also avoids the nuggets, saying:
“We can do better, and we will. I want a meatier, crispier nugget and sauces that make my taste buds dance. The team is on it.”
It doesn’t appear there’s currently a firm timeline for the new nuggets that are in development, but it’s clear that Curtis is hoping to benefit by tearing a page out of the Domino’s playbook and admitting they taste like sadness.
I guess we’ll have to wait and see if it pays off.