Channel Selection: Burger King and the $1 Double Cheeseburger

To offer a budget sandwich during tough times, Burger King Holdings Inc. proposed a four-month promotion offering its double cheese- burger for $1 in the United States. But franchisees rejected the proposal because they thought it made no sense to sell the sandwich at a lower price than the cost of its ingredients. Burger King has 11,100 restaurants in more than 65 countries, and almost 90 percent of them are owned and operated by independent franchisees. Burger King management tried again by asking its U.S. franchisees to consider a six-week period for the $1 special, but operators voted against the modified plan as well. Results of the vote were delivered to franchisees in an audio recording.19

Your Task. Discuss the factors Burger King management may have considered before choosing a communication channel to deliver this important news. Was an audio recording (probably a recorded phone message) the best channel to deliver this news to thousands of fran- chisees in the United States?