From a Burger King in Oakland

[Courtesy Flush]

Sorry if this is a repost. Found it on Reddit. Not my pic, but it's great.

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. One burger king I'd even buy coffee from

Sadly that is all I can eat there.

[HopeHoops]

5. Yeah, that's about the only thing I'd trust consuming from there.

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. Me it's the food allergies

when I go down to the occupy site I always take food bars with me and that is the precise reason.

[ZombieHorde]

22. I have not tried it, but I hear their hot cocoa is great. nt

[demosincebirth]

24. I like Burger King.

[nadinbrzezinski]

26. That was the place I liked best

before the gluten allergy... it is not whether I like them or not... all burger joints (due to the bread) have a really nasty effect.

On the bright side when we do (rarely) go out for a burger, I order without a bun and the fries... I end up eating less calories.

Fast food though is very hard to do this way.

[demosincebirth]

50. Sorry for your allergy. Burger King and McDonalds are my favorites. Once or twice a month is in my

safety zone.

[SaintPete]

30. Our local BK has the best fast food coffee ever

really..tastes better than some of the local coffee houses

[bullwinkle428]

31. Some of BK's breakfast stuff is pretty decent, if you need something quick and easy on the road.

[nadinbrzezinski]

40. It is the food allergies, that is why I can't

On the bright side, those same food allergies have forced me to... learn how to cook pretty damn well, and we eat healthy.

[RZM]

39. I always thought BK coffee came from concentrate and was shipped frozen and already brewed.

I think somebody told me that once. Not sure if it's true. Could be they've changed policies since then as well.

[nadinbrzezinski]

41. starting wiht mickey D, they all started brewing coffee on site

to compete with starbucks.

Tasting tests actually place Burger King coffee, the basic joe, as pretty descent (even better than starbucks, in my opinion not hard) when it is close to fresh. So during high traffic time in the day...

Things one learns on Marketplace... while running errands.

[RZM]

42. Makes sense

Last time I had BK coffee was probably about 10 years ago. I don't think they'd made the switch yet because it smacked of being from concentrate.

I'll bet it isn't bad now. Had a McDonald's coffee recently and it was fine.

[Odin2005]

2. K&R!

[think]

3. Outstanding support for OWS. Let's hope it inspires other businesses to join in.

[abelenkpe]

4. love it

Hope to see more businesses do this too.

[bigwillq]

6. Cool

K and R

[slackmaster]

7. Is the owner claiming that as a BK franchisee none of the restaurant's revenue goes to the corp?

I find that very hard to believe.

http://investor.bk.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=87140&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1595721&highlight=

[Denninmi]

9. Well, obviously, the profits do flow to the corporation.

Aside from the franchise fees, the companies make much of their profit on selling the products to the franchisees.

[slackmaster]

13. Yes, exactly.

There is a huge difference between a locally owned franchise of a mega-corporation and a truly locally owned business.

[NYC_SKP]

10. Nowhere on that sign is such a claim made.

I don't even see it suggested.

It is 100% locally owned, meaning the franchise isn't shared with others outside of Oakland.

It doesn't mean it isn't still a franchise so naturally some funds go to the corp.

So there isn't anything misleading about the sign.

....

[slackmaster]

12. A franchise is a license granted by a corporation or group to allow someone to sell its products

The claim made on the sign regarding ownership is almost meaningless. Even the property that the restaurant sits on could be owned by someone outside of the Oakland area and the claim would still be technically true, while profits are funneled to BK corporate and to the landlord.

I don't mean to take a dump on your Whopper but clever marketing gimmick is clever.

[William769]

19. Very simple solution, prove the sign wrong.

Until you do...

[slackmaster]

34. The sign presents an extraordinary claim

The burden of proof is on the author of the sign.

[William769]

37. The burden of proof is on the accuser not the accused.

So once again prove the sign wrong.

[NJCher]

20. not "funneling profits"

That's a bit extreme ("profits funneled to BK corporate and to the landlord.&quot

The franchisee pays a fee. When I worked for McDonald's several decades ago (adv. exec), it was around 4 per cent. That 4 per cent bought a lot. Also, it's not off their profits, it's off the gross.

Many times the franchisee owns the land, but often enough they take out a 20-year lease on the land.

I don't see this so much as a "clever marketing gimmick" as I see a business that is, in fact, locally owned and that is feeling the backlash against large national corporations.

The fact that this BK owner felt the need to make this sign says a great deal.


Cher

[slackmaster]

35. A franchise for a large national corporation taking part in a backlash against national corporations

Right.

[NJCher]

53. I really don't think you get it

I have actually been there, working with franchisees. Many of them are mom 'n pop operations. Yes, there are some millionaires. I've worked in advertising with both McDonalds and Burger King.

I'm no lover of fast food and I have as much contempt, maybe more, than you do for corporate America. Like everything else, it's not black and white. I know that black/white breakdown makes it easier for you to "think," but higher-level thinking skills encompass more "gray."



Cher

[Remember Me]

27. You're really quite wrong about that.

My husband was a fast food franchisee so I know a little bit about how it works, and just had him refresh my memory on the subject. He also said that for the most part, they all work very similarly.

There is typically a pretty hefty one-time franchise fees in the neighborhood of $100,000 or more -- this includes getting the site ready. The site is usually owned by the franchisee or corporate.

In addition, the franchisee has to contribute monthly to national and local (regional) marketing at the rate of 4-5% and 1-2% of gross sales and there's 3% or so that goes to corporate as part of their revenues from franchise operations.

That's roughly 10% of gross revenues that go elsewhere, although I don't think you can begrudge the marketing money, frankly. It may sound like a lot, but if it were onerous, no one would become franchisee -- esp. with that rather high dollar "entry fee."

There's still a lot of money stays completely local -- how MUCH goes directly into the franchisee's pocket depends entirely on how successful her restaurants are (and a good bit of that is up to her, of course, though not all by any means). There are all those local WAGES and a gob of local services like plumbing, electrical, signage, landscaping and various other maintenance and services -- possibly accountants, lawyers, banks.

There MAY be local "landlords" but somebody's going to be paying SOMEone for the use of that property either by buying it or paying corporate for its use or a more than likely LOCAL landlord (which isn't the norm). It seems to me kinda pointless to think of that as "profits going elsewhere" since it's a business expense and even your 100% local small business wlll have the same expense.

And I don't care if you think it's just a clever marketing gimmick or not, I'm very grateful for the support. And grateful that franchisee recognizes he is one of the 99%. We need much more of that going forward.

[Zalatix]

29. Exactly!

"And I don't care if you think it's just a clever marketing gimmick or not, I'm very grateful for the support. And grateful that franchisee recognizes he is one of the 99%. We need much more of that going forward."

That is the number one reason why I would support that person's business if I lived there.

[slackmaster]

33. Did the "support" include any free food or coffee?

Or just not lobbying the city to evict the Occupy people?

[Remember Me]

36. What exactly have YOU done to support Occupy?

[slackmaster]

43. I honk and wave whenever I drive by their camp in downtown San Diego

Sometimes people wave back.

My contributions to society are mostly in the form of donating money to causes that I regard as worthy, such as Planned Parenthood, Doctors Without Borders, and the American Red Cross.

[Remember Me]

46. I thought so.

[slackmaster]

47. DU, the only site on the Web where it's normal to be riduculed for having a job

And a life.

[Remember Me]

48. Oh, you're even LESS of a 99% fan than I thought

You sound downright antagonistic.

FWIW, whether or not you have a job never entered my mind. Not for a minute. I was actually a bit startled by your comment. Not to mention its implications.

People can be so self-revelatory when they're not even trying, it's amazing.

So, are you replying to this thread on your lunch break (at 2:30-ish in the afternoon your time), or what? Just curious.

[LanternWaste]

44. Good, relevant and salient question.

Good, relevant and salient question. You should look into that and let us know what you've discovered...

[slackmaster]

32. 100% - 10% = 90%

Thanks for the information.

[Zalatix]

38. Splitting hairs! n/t

[Remember Me]

49. I was ignoring this, but I think I'll go ahead and bite

Let's first clarify just what is your beef with franchises here. You think ALL money spent by a business should stay 100% local, or what?

Because for me, 7% of that 10% shouldn't be included in what you were complaining about because it was spent on marketing (and advertising), and for most businesses -- certainly fast food -- that's a given, not something optional. Part of the money goes to the corporate office because they run advertising in YOUR MARKET (some people might even call that being spent LOCALLY, ya know?), and SOMEBODY's got to pay for it. Part of the 10% goes to a local or regional co-op and they might run ads as well as do other promotions like special events, community tie-ins (come meet these local professional sports team members), grand openings and such. So I just don't think the marketing dollars qualifies.

Why exactly do you think otherwise, if you do?

[demosincebirth]

25. +1

[grantcart]

51. That's not the relevant point

if this is the only franchise that supports OWS Movement and its sales numbers go up,

and all of the other outlets go down then that would send a strong message to corporate headquarters.

[unionworks]

11. Beautiful Sign!

I guess we can "Have it our way"!

[provis99]

14. also: This Burger King Pays Minimum Wage. At Most.

[Remember Me]

28. How do you know that?

[provis99]

52. because it's a Burger King, dude.

[Downwinder]

15. I am assuming that the owner did not call City Hall

to have Occupy Oakland evicted.

Dispite Hyatt's action across the bay it appears that all businesses are not against Occupy.

[Fire Walk With Me]

16. K&R!

[tabasco]

17. I remember the good old days when they had 99-cent Whoppers.

Dayum I love me some Whoppers.

[no_hypocrisy]

18. Oakland, NJ or Oakland, CA or elsewhere?

[MarianJack]

21. Majorly Cool!

Big arse K&R!

PEACE!

[one_voice]

23. Aw man that's flucking great!

K&R

[KeepItReal]

45. "I like the Whopper...f@&k the Big Mac!" - Rob Base