McDonald’s Corporation (MCD), Burger King Worldwide Inc (BKW): Dual Gaffes of the Week

According to various news and police reports, on Tuesday a Burger King Worldwide Inc (NYSE:BKW) employee in Michigan included a very personal and illegal toy in a four-year old child’s kids meal: a marijuana pipe. Apparently an employee hid the pipe in the kid’s meal to avoid being caught. Instead, the grandparents of the four-year old discovered the drug paraphernalia when they got home and notified authorities. I understand that Burger King is all about “having it your way,” but I’m pretty sure that breaking the law isn’t on that menu of options.

A spokesperson for Burger King Worldwide Inc (NYSE:BKW) did their best mea culpa to rectify the situation, but the PR damage has already been done.

The last fast-food chains standing
If Jack in the Box Inc. (NASDAQ:JACK) and The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) can manage to go a few weeks without sticking their foot in the their mouth, they both have a shot at picking up market share based on these PR gaffes from McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) and Burger King.

Jack in the Box Inc. (NASDAQ:JACK) has already done an exceptional job of remodeling its restaurants after McDonald’s own establishments to make them more family friendly and has always been a differentiable fast-food restaurant because of its focus on serving breakfast all day long.

The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN), however, could really use the boost with its sales regularly lagging its peers. New summer menu items and an emphasis on its value menu could help, but it really needs to capitalize on any public opinion weakness in McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) and Burger King Worldwide Inc (NYSE:BKW).

One thing’s for certain: It’s going to be difficult for McDonald’s and Burger King to top this week’s gaffes anytime in the near future, so they probably have nowhere to go but up from here!

The article Dual Gaffes of the Week originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Sean Williams.

Fool contributor Sean Williams has no material interest in any companies mentioned in this article. You can follow him on CAPS under the screen name TMFUltraLong, track every pick he makes under the screen name TrackUltraLong, and check him out on Twitter, where he goes by the handle @TMFUltraLong. The Motley Fool recommends and owns shares of McDonald’s. It also recommends Burger King Worldwide and Visa.

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