by iakul

Created on: July 29, 2010

MacDonald's, Burger King, KFC, Long John Silver. The list goes on. Just about every sort of variant has been attempted with fast food. Have a craving for Japanese food? There's Mos Burger. Seafood? Long John Silver. It appears that fast food restaurants are here to stay, and in some cases, are even expected to do better than their non fast food counterparts.

Given such overwhelming competition, can the "original" fast food restaurants like MacDonald's and Burger King, still manage to stay in competition? Or is it just a matter of time before they find themselves on the way out?

In the case of MacDonald's, the fact that the restaurant chain is enjoying a well-entrenched position as a leader in the fast food industry should serve to act as a buffer. For better or for worse (although usually people will claim it's the latter), MacDonald's has influenced the culture in several parts of the world. Words like McJob and McChurch have crept into the English language. Even though such McWords are usually used in a negative context, the fact that they are being used at all should show the extent to which we accept (or are resigned to) MacDonald's as part of our culture.

In contrast, fast food restaurants like Burger KIng, without a clear market leader position, have had to resort to various other means to keep afloat. In the case of Burger King, the restaurant actually went under in 2001, when they were shouldering a $300 million debt and had to file for chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Following, the acquisition of Burger King by TGP Capital, Burger King's advertising was handed over to Crispin Porter + Bogusky and it was mainly due to their efforts that Burger King began to turn its fortunes around. The company's unconventional ad campaigns were not always well-received though.

Take for example, their ad campaign in Spain, which depicted the Hindu god Laskshmi about to eat a beef burger, and the words "The snack is sacred" in Spanish. Hindus are prohibited from eating beef, and the advertisement to a Hindu was the equivalent of the depiction of Jesus Christ as a machine-gun toting maniac slaughtering children in a firearms commercial to a Christian.

Despite these incidents, Burger King has been quite successful with its ad campaigns and will likely continue to do well.

So, are fast food restaurants like MacDonald's and Burger King on their way out? Not anytime soon, although in the case of Burger King, and other fast food chains not in a market leader position, they do have to work hard to stay in competition.

Learn more about this author, iakul.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.