BK Stacker

The BK Stacker sandwiches are a family of cheeseburgers sold by the international fast-food restaurant chain Burger King.[1][2][3]

"Quad stacker" redirects here. For "four stacker" ocean liners, see Four funnel liner.
Double BK Stacker
A BK Double Stacker
Nutritional value per 1 sandwich (190 g)
Energy560 kcal (2,300 kJ)
32 g
Sugars5 g
Dietary fiber1 g
39 g
Saturated16 g
Trans1.5 g
34 g
MineralsQuantity %DV†
Sodium
73%
1100 mg
Other constituentsQuantity
Energy from fat350 kcal (1,500 kJ)
Cholesterol125 mg
†Percentages are roughly approximated using US recommendations for adults.
Source: www.BK.com (PDF)

History

In 2002, Burger King changed ownership when its parent company, Diageo, sold its interest in the company to a group of investment firms led by TPG Capital. After assuming ownership, TPG's newly appointed management team began focusing menu development and advertising on a very narrow demographic group, young men aged 20–34 who routinely ate at fast food restaurants several times per month which the chain identified as the "super fan".[4][5][6] Amid this new super-fan focused menu expansion the chain introduced its new BK Stacker sandwich in late 2006, a family of sandwiches featuring the same set of toppings served as a single, double, triple or quadruple hamburger. The Stacker line was part of a series of larger, more calorie-laden products introduced by the company to entice the super-fan into the chain's restaurants. These new additions helped propel same store profits for more than sixteen quarters.[7]

The Stacker consisted of anywhere from one to four 1.7 oz (48 g) beef patties, American cheese, bacon and a Thousand Island dressing variant called Stacker sauce served on a sesame seed bun.[4][5][6][8] The new sandwiches had a muted reaction in several reviews—Chowhound.com readers rated the Quad Stacker as one of the most over-the-top gluttonous burgers in a poll,[9] while the Impulsive Buy stated that the sandwich was much like any other bacon cheeseburger but meatier.[8] Despite its lukewarm reception, an internet meme relating to the sandwich developed rather quickly. Customers would create an "Octo-Stacker" sandwich by purchasing two quad Stackers and mashing the two together sandwiches to create a sandwich with eight patties, eight slices of cheese and sixteen half pieces of bacon. They would then film themselves trying to eat the 1 lb (0.45 kg) sandwich in under five minutes.[10]

With the onset of the Great Recession in 2008–2009, this narrowly-defined demographic-based sales plan faltered and sales and profits for the chain declined; Burger King's same-store comparable sales in the United States and Canada declined 4.6% in the three months ended September 30, while McDonald's posted same-store comparable sales growth of 2.5% within the United States.[11] The Stacker line underwent a minor reformulation in 2011 that involved deleting the top layer of cheese and changing the amount of bacon in the sandwiches, and moving the sandwiches from the core section of its menu to the company's value menu.[12] The changed ingredient list and pricing structure created a situation such that the distribution of ingredients did not scale at the same rate as increasing numbers of burger patties. Consumer Reports' blog The Consumerist noted that two single Stackers at $1.00 included more cheese and more bacon than one double Stacker for $2.00. Three single Stackers had 50% more cheese and double the bacon of one triple Stacker.[13] The Stacker line and other related calorie-heavy menu items were dropped in 2012 when 3G Capital of Brazil bought the company and initiated a menu restructuring focusing on a broader demographic base.[14] Since then, the Stacker line has been reintroduced under their 2005-2011 formulation and with a new name: the "Stacker King" sandwiches. Canadian locations serve both the 2005 formulations of the Stacker sandwiches as well as the 2011 formulations together. The 2005 formulations are branded as the "Stacker King" line, while the 2011 formulations are branded as simply the "Stacker" line.

Product description

The BK Stacker is a hamburger consisting of anywhere from one to four 2.0 ounces (57 g) grilled beef patties, American cheese, bacon and Stacker sauce (a Thousand Island dressing variant) served on a sesame seed bun.

Notable variants

The standard variants of the BK Stacker sandwich are:[15]

  • The Single Stacker - 1 patty, 2 half pieces of bacon and 1 slice of cheese
  • The Double Stacker - 2 patties, 3 half pieces of bacon and 1 slice of cheese
  • The Triple Stacker - 3 patties, 3 half pieces of bacon and 2 slices of cheese
  • The Quad Stacker - 4 patties, 3 half pieces of bacon and 3 slices of cheese
  • BK Stackticon - A summer 2009 variation that replaces the stacker sauce with BBQ Sauce. Sold as product tie-in with Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
  • BBQ Beef Stack - A similar sandwich offered by Hungry Jack's that features single, double and triple sized burgers along with a fried egg and a proprietary BBQ sauce called "Jack Sauce."[1]
  • The Quintuple Stacker, (a limited edition version offered in Argentina) - 5 patties, 3 half pieces of bacon and 5 slices of cheese

Advertising

The BK Stacker was introduced using commercials that employed groups of little people in the roles of members of the "Stackers Union". The characters were "Vin," played by Danny Woodburn, "the new guy," and various members of the "Stackers Union" construction team that work in a BK kitchen assembling the sandwiches. The tag line was "Meat, Cheese and Bacon- Stacked High". As exemplified in the advertising campaign, part of the sandwich's concept revolves around not having vegetables like lettuce, onions, or tomatoes.[1]

See also

Other types of big hamburger by other QSR vendors:

Notes

    Notes:
    1. British trademarks with the "EU" prefix are European Community wide trademarks.
    2. The New Zealand trademark office does not allow direct linking of trademark information.

    References

    1. Warner, Melanie (28 July 2006). "U.S. Restaurant Chains Find There Is No Too Much". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 December 2007.
    2. Martin, Andrew (2007-03-25). "Will Diners Still Swallow This?". The New York Times. Retrieved 2007-12-03. Perhaps no restaurant chain has flaunted its portions more than Burger King. In the last two years, it has introduced a Triple Whopper, the BK Stacker with four beef patties, and an Enormous Omelet sandwich, which is a sausage, bacon and cheese omelet on a bun. But that seems small compared with its Meat’Normous, a breakfast sandwich that the company pitches with the slogan: “A full pound of sausage, bacon and ham. Have a meaty morning.”
    3. Martin, Andrew (2007-07-22). "Did McDonald's Give In to Temptation?". The New York Times. Retrieved 2007-12-03. By offering the Hugo, McDonald's is not doing anything different from its rivals, particularly Burger King, which has made huge servings, like the quadruple-patty BK Stacker sandwich, a signature of its menu.
    4. Warner, Melanie (28 July 2006). "U.S. Restaurant Chains Find There Is No Too Much". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 December 2007.
    5. Martin, Andrew (25 March 2007). "Will Diners Still Swallow This?". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 December 2007.
    6. Martin, Andrew (22 July 2007). "Did McDonald's Give In to Temptation?". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 December 2007.
    7. Martin, Andrew (10 February 2008). "Gulp! Burger King Is on the Rebound". The New York Times. Retrieved 28 September 2015.
    8. Marvo (11 July 2006). "Review: Burger King Quad Stacker". The Impulsive Buy. Retrieved 28 September 2015.
    9. "Your vote for the most over-the-top gluttonous burger?". Chowhound.com. 25 September 2006. Archived from the original on October 2, 2015. Retrieved 28 September 2015.
    10. Lynch, Kevin (26 November 2009). "Meat feast: Burger King's Quad Stacker and the top 10 gut-busting beef burgers". The Daily Mirror. Retrieved 28 September 2015.
    11. Jargon, Julie (1 February 2010). "As Sales Drop, Burger King Draws Critics for Courting 'Super Fans'". Yahoo Business. Retrieved 28 September 2015.
    12. Kelso, Alicia (8 March 2011). "Burger King Stackers added to Value Menu". QSR Web. Archived from the original on 14 March 2011. Retrieved 11 March 2011.
    13. Northrup, Laura (11 March 2011). "Burger King's Stacker Deal Uses Questionable Math, Robs Customers Of Bacon". The Consumerist. Retrieved 8 October 2011.
    14. Choi, Candace (3 April 2012). "Burger King to list shares on NYSE". Yahoo Business. Associated Press. Retrieved 28 September 2015.
    15. "Burger King nutrition facts – United States" (PDF) (Press release). Burger King Corporation. March 2011. p. 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 December 2010. Retrieved 11 March 2011.
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