BURGER KING MOCKS MCDONALD'S WITH 'NOT BIG MACS' MENU

Recently McDonald's lost its trade mark battle with Irish chain Supermac's over its trademark rights in the words 'Big Mac' as McDonald's had dropped a Whopper by failing to prove genuine use of the mark. Following the defeat in the EUIPO, Burger King's Swedish operation has taken the opportunity to take a bite out of McDonald's menu.

Burger King franchises in Sweden have updated their menus to include burgers with names referencing the Big Mac such as 'Anything but a Big Mac' and 'the Burger Big Mac Wished It Was' as part of their new and facetious 'Not Big Macs' range.  Such nuggets as 'Like a Big Mac but actually tasty' have also been spotted.

The result of the EUIPO decision in January 2019 means that anyone can use the trademark 'Big Mac': not just McDonald's. Burger King has taken advantage of the Royale mess and used the decision in its favour to create a marketing stunt which 'twists the knife' following McDonald's legal defeat.

In a press release, CEO of Burger King's Swedish outfit, Iwo Zakowski commented that "it's too much fun for us to stay away". We don't doubt that Burger King is having a great deal of fun at its longstanding rival and is making a (happy) meal out of its rival's misfortune.

None of the items on the updated menus are new: instead they have just been rebranded for the marketing stunt created by Burger King's creative agency located in Stockholm. Burger King has also created a video advert poking more fun at McDonald's that features a customer ordering one of the burgers from the new menu.

McDonald's has not yet acknowledged the playful jibes.

If you have any questions on the above, please do not hesitate to contact the team at McDaniel & Co. on 0191 281 4000 or legal@mcdanielslaw.com.