Business

Burger King tries to conquer women’s hearts

The fast-food chain rolled out a new menu featuring salads, chicken wraps and fruit smoothies

Salad King

Luis M. Alvarez/AP

After years of mostly targeting young men with its fat-filled Whoppers, Burger King has finally introduced healthier choices to its menu. Just weeks after learning that Wendy’s took its place as the second-largest hamburger chain in the U.S., Burger King rolled out one of its biggest menu redesigns, to offer salads, chicken wraps and fruit smoothies, much like the first-place fast-food chain McDonald’s has served up for years. To complete its makeover, after retiring its “King” mascot, Burger King launched a new advertising campaign starring mainstream celebrities like David Beckham, Jay Leno and Salma Hayek. Burger King still has lots of ground to make up: besides the loss to Wendy’s, both Subway and Starbucks passed Burger King in overall revenue in 2011. It’s now hoping the new menu will be appealing not just to customers, but to investors, too. Burger King also announced last week that it is going public again, just 18 months after the investment firm 3G Capital bought it and took it private.

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