Burger King in Hot Seat After 'Global Warming is Baloney' Signs Displayed at Five Memphis Stores by Franchisee Mirabile Investment Corp.

Photograph: www.memphisflyer.com

Burger King is embroiled in a controversy with one of its major franchisees over roadside signs proclaiming that "global warming is baloney," and it seems like there isn't much the fast food giant can do to force the franchisee to take the signs down. The franchisee, a Memphis-based company called the Mirabile Investment Corporation (MIC) that owns more than 40 Burger Kings across Tennessee, Arkansas and Mississippi, has described Burger King as acting "kinda like cockroaches" over the controversy. The mere mention of the word "cockroach" should be taboo because of its obvious connotations. MIC said that it does not believe Burger King has the authority to make it take the signs down. The signs are reportedly limited to five stores. The problem is that this is a public relations nightmare for Burger King, which has prided itself as a socially responsible company.

The dispute began to sizzle last week, when, Chris Davis, a local newspaper reporter from the Memphis Flyer, noticed the signs outside two restaurants in the city and contacted the corporation to establish if the message represented its official viewpoint. Burger King's headquarters in Miami said it did not, adding that it had ordered MIC to take the signs down.

But a few days later readers of the Memphis paper said they had seen about a dozen Burger King restaurants across the state displaying the signs and that some had yet to be taken down. Media attempts to contact MIC to establish why it was taking an apparently defiant stance were rebuffed, but the Guardian managed to grill MIC's marketing president, John McNelis. Source: UK Guardian

Chris Davis, since the original posting, readers have noticed other area BKs that are comparing global warming to the popular lunch meat commonly made from organs, trimmings, and scraps from other meat processing. The stores in question are all operated by a Memphis-based fast-food management company called MIC, which operates over 40 BKs as well as three Popeye's and five All-in-One's. Source: Memphis Flyer

I guess someone at this company has gone out of his or her way to let the community know what he or she thinks about global warming. Either way, it shows that Burger King has no real power to tell its franchisees what to do in this regard. One would think that if the company operates under the Burger King name, it should adhere to the positions the company believes in. Burger King touts itself as a social responsible company and that should be the same position the franchisees take. So, for all those patrons who are concerned about the effects of global warming, you need to find another fast food restaurant to spend your money.