Burger King Plans to Sell $170 Sandwich in London

(MoneyWatch)  Burger King, apparently as part of its effort to recast itself in Europe, and specifically England, as a "premium" eatery, said on Wednesday that it planned to offer a cheeseburger costing 85 pounds, or about $170, in some upscale London neighborhoods and suburbs.

The burger will contain Kobe wagyu beef and will be topped with foie gras and rare bleu cheese, according to The Sun, a British tabloid. (Indeed, British tabloids -- a notorious collection of publications of varying degrees of trustworthiness -- seem to be the only news outlets that have done any reporting on this. The Daily Star, however, claims that it talked to a Burger King spokesperson, who confirmed only that the company is planning an expensive burger for the British market.)

It's a blatant PR move, of course. All the profits from the cheeseburger will go to charity. It should be interesting to see whether Brits will buy in -- not to the burger, but to the concept of Burger King as "upscale."

Judging by the reader response on Brand Republic's Web site, some will and some won't.

A reader identifying himself as Gavin Sutcliffe wrote that Burger King marketers are "cobblers," and threw in some offensive slurs to boot. And he wondered why Brand Republic would "bother gnoshing on this story in the first place -- toss pots."

Highly amusing Britishisms aside, Mr. Sutcliffe may simply be expressing with anger the reactions that many Brits will have toward the high-end cheeseburger. Others may employ sarcasm, like Jacquie Bowser.

"I'm saving up my ?£85 as we speak!" she wrote. "Can't think of a better place to spend my hard-earned cash -- sitting on a plastic seat, eating on a plastic tray, looking at my paper cup, while listening to screaming kids. Sounds lush!"

Others may be more direct, like Ian Maggs.

"Surely the correct way to meaningfully raise perceptions of BK premiumness is to modify a core component of the basic food offer," he wrote. For example, "organic buns or potatoes, instead of simply introducing a single mindlessly expensive product."

But The Sun quoted Lucy Barrett, of Marketing Magazine, as saying: "The idea of a burger that no one buys is not as ludicrous as it seems. Burger King will use it to promote a gap in perception between it and McDonald's. It could lead consumers to reassess the quality of the brand."

Correction: This post was updated 5:18 pm PST on April 25, 2008, to remove a misleading translation.
Another correction: This post was updated again at 6:08 p.m. on April 28, 2008, to remove some quoted British slang that the post's writer thought to be merely a bit dirty, but which turned out to be an ugly slur.