The Whopper sandwich is the signature product sold by the international fast-food restaurant chain Burger King in the global market.

Product description

The Original Whopper sandwich is a hamburger, consisting of a grilled quarter-pound (113.4 g) beef patty, sesame seed bun, mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato, pickles, ketchup, and sliced onion. Optional ingredients such as processed cheese, bacon, mustard or jalapeño peppers may be added upon request. Regional and international condiments include BBQ sauce, salsa and guacamole. BK will also add any condiment it sells, including tartar sauce, honey mustard, steak sauce and hot sauce.

Different promotional varieties have appeared throughout the years for a limited time.

Variants

The standard variants of the Whopper sandwich are:

• The Original Whopper - one ¼ lb (113.4 grams) hamburger patty;
• The Bacon and Cheese Whopper - one ¼ lb (113.4 gram) hamburger patty, 4 pieces of bacon and 2 slices of American cheese;
• The Double Whopper - two ¼ lb (226.8 grams) hamburger patties;
• The Triple Whopper - three ¼ lb (340.2 grams) hamburger patties;
  In Europe the standard build for the Triple Whopper is without cheese, while in the Americas the Triple Whopper comes with cheese standard.
• The Whopper Junior - one 2.2 oz (62.4 gram) hamburger patty

Other variants available

• The Veggie Whopper - a Whopper without the meat patty; not to be confused with the BK Veggie
• The Double Whopper Junior - two 2.2 oz hamburger patties

Promotional variants

• The Angry Whopper - pepperjack cheese, jalapeños and "Angry Onion Rings" are added
  Sold in Europe and in the US.
• The Bacon Swiss Whopper - Swiss Cheese and bacon are added
  Sold in the US and Canada
• The California Fresh Whopper - sour cream-onion dressing and cucumbers instead of pickles and mayo.
  Sold in Sweden
• The Dark Whopper - pepperjack cheese, Black-Pepper Ketchup and Grill Sauce
  Sold in the UK and Ireland.
• The Dark Whopper - Barbecue sauce instead of ketchup, no pickle.
  Available in Australia in conjunction with The Dark Knight Batman film.
• The Indy Whopper - pepperjack cheese, blackened cajun mayo and bacon.
  sold in the US.
• The Ultimate Double Whopper (f.k.a. The Extreme Whopper w/ Cheese, also as Homer Burger for The Simpsons Movie promotion.) - features a double order of American cheese and 8 half-pieces of bacon
  Sold in the US, Canada; sold permanently Argentina and Chile as the Ultra Whopper Doble and The Extreme Whopper Double with half the bacon and cheese.
• The Fiesta Whopper - spicy sauce replaces the ketchup, pepperjack cheese and no pickles
  Sold in the US and Canada.
• The Texas Double Whopper - Jalapeño peppers, bacon, mustard replacing the ketchup
  Sold in the US and Canada. Sold permanently in El Salvador, Argentina and Chile as the Whopper Texano.
• The Whopper Mexican/Mexican Whopper - hot sauce and hot peppers instead of the mayo and pickles.
  Sold in Sweden, Mexico and Australia
• The Western Whopper - BBQ sauce, Cheddar or American cheese and bacon. It is also available as a double and triple.
  Sold in the US, Canada and Australia.
• The Meat Beast Whopper - Bacon, American cheese and sliced pepperoni are added.
  Available in the UK and Ireland.

Regional variants

• The Garlic Whopper has chopped garlic added
  Available in Israel
• The Mustard Whopper substitutes mustard for mayonnaise
  Available in the US states of Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas
• The Rodeo Whopper replaces the raw onion and ketchup with onion rings and barbecue sauce
  Available in Argentina and Israel
• The Whopper with roasted onions and mushrooms
  Available in Israel
• The Whopper with egg - a fried egg is added to the sandwich
  Available in Australia
• The Aussie Whopper - beetroot replaces the mayonnaise and pickled cucumbers and a fried egg, bacon and cheese are added to the sandwich.
  Available in Australia
• The Whopper Teriyaki has teriyaki sauce instead of ketchup
  Available in Japan
• The Italian Whopper has avocado instead of lettuce
  Available in Chile
• The Bacon and Cheese Double Whopper - two ¼ lb (113.4 gram) hamburger patties, 4 pieces of bacon and 2 slices of American cheese
  Available in Japan

Discontinued variants

• The Chicken Whopper (mayonnaise, lettuce and tomato with a grilled chicken fillet)
• The Chicken Whopper, Jr. (smaller chicken fillet and bun, smaller amount of toppings)
• The Quarter pound cheeseburger - A copy of the Quarter Pounder with ketchup, onions, pickle and mustard.

The Chicken Whopper is still available in parts of Europe and the Middle East. In the US, Turkey and New Zealand it has been replaced by the TenderGrill Chicken Sandwich.

History

The Whopper was created in 1957 by Burger King founder James McLamore and sold for 37 cents.

For several years in the 1980s, the weight of the Whopper was increased to 1/3 lb. The bun was also replaced by a Kaiser roll. The Whopper reverted to the original formulation a few years later. The "Third Pound Whopper" made a return in the early 2000s, but has since been discontinued again.

The packaging has undergone many changes since its inception. Originally the sandwich was sold in a clamshell style box made of foam, which was changed to a paperboard box in 1982. The box was fully eliminated in 1988 and was replaced with wax paper. For a short time after BK began moving to a fresh made model (certain sandwiches are made only after being ordered instead of being pre-made ahead of time), BK used an aluminum foil wrapping similar to Wendy's sandwich packaging.

Advertising

One of the original slogans of the Whopper advertised by Burger King was There are 1024 ways to have a Whopper; the claim is based on the math formula of whether the sandwich has the ingredient or not, a binary number of 0 or 1, raised to the power of number of possible ingredients at the time, ten, thus 2¹⁰ =1,024. This claim was later expanded to There are 221,184 possible ways for a customer to order a Whopper sandwich. Other slogans include It takes two hands to handle the Whopper and Burger King: Home of the Whopper.

A 2007 advertising campaign celebrating the golden anniversary of the Whopper shows real customers in Las Vegas reacting to the false news the Whopper has been discontinued. While it was not permanently discontinued, the ad claims it was discontinued for one day. Later versions of the ads had customers receiving a Big Mac or Wendy's Single and their reactions to the sandwich. In-store ads, such as posters and tray-liners, attack the size and quality of the Big Mac.

The 2008 movie releases of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull saw a promotional tie-in with the new Indy Whopper and the The Incredible Hulk with the Angry Whopper.

Naming and trademarks

The name Whopper is a registered trademark of Burger King Holdings and is displayed with the "circle-R" (®) symbol in all markets it is sold. The name Whopper Jr. is a registered trademark in the US, Canada and Europe.

Trademark examples:

• Whopper®
• Whopper Jr.®

Competitive products

Because of the wide knowledge of the Whopper in the public marketplace, competitors such as McDonald's and Wendy's have attempted to create a corresponding Whopper-style burger, often called a Whopper Stopper. Wendy's created the Big Classic with similar toppings but served on a bulkie roll, while McDonald's has created at least six different versions, including the McDLT, the McLean Deluxe and the Big N' Tasty. None of these products have been as successful as the Whopper.

Nutritional comparison

The Whopper (670 kcal) has more calories than McDonald's Big Mac (540 kcal). However, the Big Mac is smaller than the Whopper - 214g vs. 290g. Therefore, the Whopper actually contains fewer calories than the Big Mac by mass. The Whopper contains 231 kcal per 100g and the Big Mac contains 252 kcal per 100g.

References

See also

• BK XXL line
• BK Crown Jewels line

Similar sandwiches by other fast food restaurant vendors

• McDonald's Big N' Tasty
• McDonald's McLean Deluxe
• Wendy's Big Classic
• Carl's Jr.'s Six Dollar Burger
• Hardee's Monster Thickburger.