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The Big King sandwich is a hamburger sold by the international fast-food restaurant chain Burger King. It is one of their products oriented to late teen to young adult males.

Product description

The Big King is a hamburger, consisting of two (2) grilled beef patties, sesame seed bun, King Sauce (a Thousand Island dressing variant), iceberg lettuce, onions, pickles and two (2) slices of American cheese. The product has been discontinued in United States and Canada but is available in other regions such as Norway, Sweden, Brazil, Spain, Germany, Italy, Denmark, Saudi Arabia, Poland and Turkey .

History

Originally, the burger had a look and composition that resembled the Big Mac: it had two beef patties, ''King'' sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles and onions on a three-part sesame seed bun. Because its patties are flame-broiled and larger than McDonald's grill fried, seasoned hamburger patties and the different formulation of the ''King Sauce'' vs. McDonald's ''Special sauce'', the sandwich had a similar, but not exact, taste and different caloric content. Burger King eventually reformulated the sandwich to use a standard hamburger roll, presumably as a cost measure.

The Big King was first created in 1997. During its initial launch period in 1996, it was called the Double Supreme Cheeseburger, but later was renamed as the Big King when it was relaunched a year later. In 2001, the company re-branded it to the current King Supreme name as part of a menu reorganization designed to better compete with a similar planned menu expansion at McDonald's early the next year. While the sandwich was discontinued in the United States in 2003, sales continued in Canada and parts of Europe. The sandwich was also modified in Canada and parts of South and Central America to include as single patty version and a larger version, called the King Supreme XXL, in Europe. The larger version drew the ire of the Spanish government because its overly large portion size, 1/2 pound (226.8g), and high levels of fat, calories and sodium.

Recently BK has begun to sell a new sandwich line called the BK Stacker, which has drawn some comparisons to the Big King. However, the sandwich does not contain vegetables and includes bacon.

Advertising

The King Supreme debut with an advertising campaign created by the McCaffery Ratner Gottlieb & Lane agency which featured blues legend B.B. King. The ads pushed the companies lunch and dinner periods as the best time to have the sandwich and had King doing a voice over in which he alternately talked or sang about the sandwiches.

The company's online advertising program in Spain states that the BK XXL line as being made ''with two enormous portions of flame-broiled meat that will give you all the energy you need to take the world by storm.'' This claim combinded with the television advertising were the prime motivators behind the Spanish government's concerns with the XXL sandwich line. The government claimed that campaign violated an agreement with the government to comply with an initiative on curbing obesity by promoting such a large and unhealthy sandwich. In response to the government's claims, Burger King replied in a statement: ''In this campaign, we are simply promoting a line of burgers that has formed part of our menu in recent years. Our philosophy can be summed up with the motto 'As you like it,' in which our customers' taste trumps all.'' The company went on to say the it offers other healthier items such as salads and that customers are free to choose their own foods and modify them as they desire.

Naming and trademarks

The name Big King is a common law mark of Burger King Holdings and is displayed with the raised ''TM'' (™) symbol in the US and Canada. In Brazil it is a registered trademark of Burger King Corporation and is displayed with the ® symbol. Burger King currently does not have any trademarks on the Big King line of sandwiches in Europe.