Talk:Burger King premium burgers/Sandbox

Since the early 2000s, international fast-food restaurant chain Burger King has attempted to create a premium line of sandwiches. The first such example was introduced in 2002 as the BK Back Porch Griller sandwich line. The sandwich, introduced in May 2002 Was a pronounced failure, pulled in September of that year.

The Angus burger is a burger sold by the international fast-food restaurant chain Burger King as an "indulgent product". It is one of their larger, adult-oriented products made with higher quality ingredients than their "standard" menu items.

In North America the sandwich was replaced with the Steakhouse XT burger, which used a new, thicker round patty among several other changes. At Hungry Jacks in Australia it is called the Classic Angus, aimed at a different more middle class audience. Only variations of the sandwich that explicitly state "Angus" in the title are manufactured from meat from Angus cattle. In 2011, the company discontinued selling the product in the North American market, replacing it with the Chef's Choice burger.

The Angus and Steakhouse sandwiches are part of a series of sandwiches designed to expand Burger King's menu with both more sophisticated, adult oriented fare and present a larger, meatier burger that appeals to 24- to 36-year-old adult males. Along with the TenderGrill and TenderCrisp chicken sandwiches, these sandwiches are intended to bring in a larger, more affluent adult audience who will be willing to spend more on the better quality products.

Steakhouse Burgers
The Steakhouse Burgers were introduced in 2007. The North American base sandwich, the Steakhouse XT, is made with mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato, raw onion and ketchup served on a corn-dusted potato flour roll.

Product description
The European and Asian versions of the Angus Burger are made with mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato, steak sauce and raw onion, however local builds may vary in regards to size and weight of the patty and bun type. The Australian version is served with bacon, processed cheese and barbecue sauce, again on the corn-dusted roll.

History
The Angus was first introduced into the North American market in 2004. In 2006 it was added to parts of the European markets and the Korean market in 2007.

The sandwich was first made with fire-grilled 1/3 pound (150 gram) patty, whole leaf iceberg lettuce, tomato, sautéed onion and steak sauce on a corn-dusted bun. The sandwich was reformulated to include mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato, raw, sliced onion and steak sauce on a corn-dusted bun in 2006, most likely for either a cost-cutting measure or product simplification. Beginning in January 2008, Burger King began to phase out the Angus burger in the US with the intention of replacing the sandwich with a newer Angus-based product in the second quarter of 2008. In the interim, BK began substituting it with the bacon and cheese Whopper.

With the introduction of the company's new broilers in the US and Canada, the product has again been replaced by the third generation sandwich called the Steakhouse XT burger, with the XT standing for eXtra Thick. The new sandwich comes in two permanent varieties, both featuring a new round, .5 in thick patty. The patty is no longer made with Angus beef where the Steakhouse XT is sold.

In the UK the angus was taken off sale in early 2013 following the European horse meat scandal. Although it was made very clear by Burger King that no traces of horsemeat had been found in their patties, they were processed in the same factory as some affected products so were withdrawn as a precaution.

US/Canada

 * Dr. Angus
 * Dr. Angus was a CP+B creation launched in 2004 to promote the new Angus line of Sandwiches. Played by comedian Harry Enfield, the character is a smarmy self-help "doctor" with gleaming white teeth and a starched toupee who encourages eaters to "sit down" and enjoy the BK's large Angus burgers. In 2006, the character was again used to advertise BK's new Cheesy Bacon Angus and TenderCrisp sandwiches.


 * In addition, CP+B added a viral marketing web page The Angus Diet. Designed to work with the larger Angus campaign, this site featured the such things as the Angus diet testimonials, a faux diet book and Angus interventions. The "interventions" could be sent to people via e-mail by filling out several fields on the page. As CP+B stated: "They were a way of getting people to spread the idea of the basis of the Angus Diet - just enjoy life. Do whatever you want. Eat whatever you want as long as it makes you happy."


 * The Western Barbecue Angus
 * In a cross promotion with the 2005 season of the Apprentice, the two teams, Magna and Net Worth, competed in a contest to design a sandwich for BK to sell. The winning product was the Net Worth team and their "Western Angus Steak Burger". As a promotional stunt, the new sandwich was introduced as a nation-wide, limited time offering the day after the episode aired.


 * Steakhouse (1st campaign)
 * The first line of advertisements for the Steakhouse Burger tagged the sandwich as "the burger you just can't wait for." The commercials often featured people in a rush to get to Burger King and purchase a Steakhouse Burger, risking the safety of other people and property around them in the process.


 * Steakhouse Burger (2nd campaign)
 * The second line of advertisements for the Steakhouse Burger tagged the sandwich as "so special, people might think you think you're special." The commercials imply that the Steakhouse Burger is a burger that people have to "earn the right" to eat.  They usually feature two characters each enjoying the burger.  They are then approached by a third character, who asks what the other two characters did to earn the sandwich.  The first character boasts of an extraordinary feat, while the second character says he was "just hungry" or "just wanted one."  The third character then berates the second character, calling him arrogant for eating a sandwich that he "did not deserve."

UK/Ireland
The Angus burger adverts featured a man (played by Richard Bennett) asking for an Angus Burger in a 'FastBurger' restaurant - a parody of McDonald's - and the counter staff laughing, presumably because they didn't think you could buy one in a fast food restaurant. The news of the order reaches the FastBurger headquarters and everyone associated with the fictional chain is laughing. The chairman is by now laughing after being told about the order on the phone, and says "An Angus Burger, is he crazy?!" An assistant gives him the morning Evening Standard paper and the front page story reads 'Burger King Debuts The Angus". Then the camera pulls back through the office to reveal a real Angus Burger and the announcer says "The Angus Burger, only at Burger King".

Naming and trademarks
Burger King currently does not have any trademarks on the Angus line of sandwiches in the US, Canada, Europe or South Korea.

Withdrawal from U.S. market
As of December 2011, the Steakhouse or Angus burgers are no longer shown on the menu at Burger King's U.S. website.

Chef's Choice burger
The Chef's Choice burger was a cheeseburger that was one of Burger King's products targeting the "indulgent" segment of the burger market. It consisted of a burger patty made from ground chuck, American cheese, bacon, red onion, romaine lettuce, tomato and a "griller sauce" sauce served on a brioche bun.

History
The Chef's Choice was introduced in October 2011 of new owner 3G Capital's menu restructuring. The sandwich is a premium burger designed to compete with McDonald's Angus Third Pounder and Wendy's Dave's Hot 'N Juicy Cheeseburgers. Introduced as part of 3G capitals menu restructuring, the sandwich features Burger King revamped bacon that replaced its former poorly rated bacon which the company's executive chef John Koch described as not deliving a "whole lot of bacon flavor." The new bacon is thicker cut, with natural smoked flavoring and is cooked in-house. The sandwich was removed from the menu in mid-2012.

Advertising
The company again used the advertising firm of McGarryBowen to promote the sandwich through its food-centric campaign. The advertising program and naming of the product is designed to add to the cache of the product by associating with the terminology with higher quality products.

BK Toppers
The BK Toppers line was a line of cheeseburgers introduced in October 2011 as limited time offer. The sandwiches featured a new 3.2 oz chopped beef patty that features a coarser grind than the company's 2 oz hamburger patty. The three sandwiches in the line were the Cheeseburger Deluxe, Mushroom and Swiss, Bacon and Cheddar, and Western BBQ. The sandwiches were a part of the new ownership's plans to expand its customer base beyond the 18-34 year-old demographic which it had been targeting over the previous several years. The product resurrected a previous name from the BK Hot Toppers line of sandwiches from the 1980s. They were removed from the menu in July 2012.

Advertising
The company used its advertising firm of McGarryBowen and a food-centric campaign to introduce the products. The ads feature the tag line of More beef, more value, with the television commercials utilizing images of the ingredients of the sandwiches as they are being prepared.

Variants
The sandwiches consisted of:
 * Deluxe: American cheese, lettuce, onions, pickles and Stacker sauce;
 * Mushroom and Swiss: mushrooms, Swiss cheese and Griller sauce;
 * Western BBQ: onion rings, American cheese and Sweet Baby Ray’s Spicy BBQ sauce.
 * Bacon Cheddar; bacon, processed Cheddar cheese, mayonnaise, pickle and ketchup