Burger King is seizing an opportunity after the public outcry against Wendy’s for its plan to experiment with a “dynamic pricing model.” The fast-food giant announced a promotional deal on Wednesday, offering customers a complimentary Whopper or Impossible Whopper with any purchase totaling $3 or more through Friday, March 1, exclusively for orders placed through the BK app.
In a bold statement, Burger King asserted, “the only thing surging at BK is the 🔥,” Burger King wrote on X. “We don’t believe in charging people more when they’re hungry.”
Burger King’s post refers to comments Wendy’s CEO and president Kirk Tanner made on a call with analysts earlier this month about how the company would be rolling out new plans to improve company profits, including digital menu boards that make it easy to change prices.
“Beginning as early as 2025, we will begin testing more enhanced features like dynamic pricing and daypart offerings along with AI-enabled menu changes and suggestive selling,” Tanner said, according to Nation’s Restaurant News.
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In response to the controversy, Burger King now offers its loyal customers an enticing incentive. The Burger King loyalty program members, dubbed ‘Royal Perks,’ stand to receive cryptocurrency as a bonus with any order totaling $5 or more. Whether ordering online or in-store, patrons simply need to provide a personalized code obtained at the register to avail themselves of this unique reward.
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Meanwhile, Wendy’s has refuted claims of embracing “surge pricing,” a term commonly associated with ride-sharing services like Uber and ticket vendors. The company clarified that its intention is not to hike prices during peak hours but rather to leverage digital menus to adjust offerings throughout the day. This flexibility enables Wendy’s to provide discounts and value propositions more readily, especially during slower periods.
“To clarify, Wendy’s will not implement surge pricing, which is the practice of raising prices when demand is highest. We didn’t use that phrase, nor do we plan to implement that practice,” a spokesperson said in an email to NBC News. They added there are “no plans” to raise prices at high-demand times.
While a Wendy’s spokesperson had initially confirmed the digital menus and dynamic pricing in a February 26 statement to TODAY.com, they did not say the chain would only lower prices with the new model.
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“We said these (digital) menu boards would give us more flexibility to change the display of featured items. This was misconstrued in some media reports as an intent to raise prices when demand is highest at our restaurants. We have no plans to do that and would not raise prices when our customers are visiting us most,” the statement continues. “Any features we may test in the future would be designed to benefit our customers and restaurant crew members. Digital menu boards could allow us to change the menu offerings at different times of day and offer discounts and value offers to our customers more easily, particularly in the slower times of day.”
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