Pop Culture Flashback: Burger King's Origins (July 23)

Among other fast-food giants such as McDonalds and Wendy’s, Burger King has struggled to fit in. The company started out with a uniquely different way of cooking and came up with a signature sandwich, but finding the right mascot that people actually like has proven to be difficult.

1953 – Burger King Ascends the Fast-Food Throne

Stacks of Burger King crowns — *(Wikimedia Commons)*

After Keith G. Cramer and Matthew Burns visited the original McDonald’s restaurant in San Bernardino, California, they were inspired to create a burger kingdom of their own. But instead of frying their burgers, they chose to flame-broil instead using “Insta-machines” (mechanized ovens that cook the hamburgers at a fraction of the time).

The king of burgers began his reign as Insta-Burger King in Jacksonville, Florida in 1953. The “Whopper” was knighted in 1957 becoming the fast-food giant’s signature offering. (McDonald’s didn’t offer the Big Mac until ten years later.) In 1959 the chain was sold and renamed to simply Burger King.

Everyone Stand for the King

In the 1970’s Burger King ordered his merrymakers (adverting folks) to create jingles (“Hold the pickles – hold the lettuce – special orders don’t upset us – all we ask is that you let us serve it your way”) and to create an animated character in his image to be used for TV commercials.

“Little King” was created in-house (or in-castle) by BK’s own marketing team and then managed by the BBDO advertising agency. The little guy was voiced by Allen Swift who often uttered the phrase “Burger King: Where Kids are King.”

In 1976, the cartoon character was replaced by live action, red-bearded “Marvelous Magical Burger King”. He went up against McDonald’s red-haired clown, Ronald. Portrayed by Dick Gjonola, this prince of a guy did magic tricks and with a twist of his magic ring he could make BK food magically appear.

Ruling in his Burger King Kingdom, his commercials often included other characters like Sir Shake-A-Lot, the Wizard of Fries, the Duke of Doubt and The Burger Thing (a talking hamburger portrait).

The “Creepy King”

The ruler of Burger King disappeared from commercials in the 1980’s when the kingdom was overrun by the BK Kids Club Gang. A new change came about in 2004 when advertising agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky created “The King” mascot. Dressed as a king, this mute character had an over-sized head and scared people before offering them Burger King food. The “Creepy King” disappeared in 2011 only to reappear in 2015.

The King mascot “died” on March 15, 2026, when Burger King decided to let the customer serve as the mascot for the current “Whopper by You” campaign.

Trying to Fit In

To help make the restaurant stand out, Burger King has come up with a few weird menu ideas over the years that just didn’t stick. These include 2013’s Satisfries (lower-fat French fries that were more expensive), 2015’s Halloween Whopper (with its pitch-black bun) and 2016’s Whopperito (essentially a Whopper placed in a tortilla).

OTHER EVENTS THAT HAPPENED ON THIS DAY:

1903 – The Ford Motor Company Sells its First Car

Many images of the Ford Model T — *(Wikimedia Commons)*

Henry Ford was 39 years old when the Ford Motor Company was launched in a converted factory in Detroit, Michigan in 1903. The Model A was the first car produced using pairs or trios of men working on each car. The very first car was sold on this day in 1903.

Between 1903 and 1904, 1,750 cars were made. The two-seater weighed 1,240 lbs. and could reach a top speed of 28 mph. Though Ford was and is known as the “most reliable machine in the world” the Model A had plenty of performance problems.