3. Inconsistent management and strategy
Management lacked focus and direction and has struggled with marketing mix decisions. Franchises became confused and angered, service was slow and food preparation wasn't consistent. Burger King lost its core product-flame broiled burgers, made the way the customer wanted them. Burger King Corp. was founded in Miami in 1954 by James McLamore and David Edgerton, a year before Ray Kroc opened his first McDonald's in suburban Chicago. The Whopper was introduced in 1957. In 1967, Burger King was acquired by the food conglomerate Pillsbury. In 1988, Pillsbury was bought by Grand Metropolitan PLC, a British conglomerate. In 1997, Grand Metropolitan merged with Guinness to create Diageo. With each merger, even as Burger King grew, it became a smaller piece of the overall company. Ultimately, it became an afterthought. Soon after the merger, Diageo decided that Burger King no longer belonged. In 2000, Diageo officially placed Burger King on the auction block. The company was finally sold in 2002 to a consortium of private equity investors, Texas Pacific Group (TPG), Bain Capital, and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners for $1.5 billion.