Draft position paper: Burger Planet

Burger Planet has been in the quick service food industry since 1934 with great success. Recently however, there has been a drop in the number of 40-50 year old women buying food at Burger Planet. This is an extremely important demographic, because not only do the women eat at Burger Planet, but they also bring their husbands and children to shop at Burger Planet. The drop in 40-50 year old women eating at Burger Planet is attributed to all fast food companies being attacked by the media, and women becoming more educated on the dangers of eating unhealthily.

There are hundreds of websites, movies, magazine, and newspaper articles created yearly to showcase how unhealthy quick service food can be, many of them stating that quick service food is “unhealthy and dangerous.” Because of this, many customers are being scared out of eating at quick service restaurants, thinking that it is something that will cause them to be extremely unhealthy. The Popular documentary “Supersize Me” had extremely detrimental effects not only on McDonalds, but also on every quick service food company; forcing many of these companies to adapt. Just weeks after the documentary came out, McDonalds made several changes to its menu to become more healthy.

All of the media coming out about how unhealthy quick service food is has also led to a sharp increase in education about what it takes to be healthy. People everywhere are taking time to learn about what it takes to be healthy, and in return are deciding to cut things out of their life, including quick service food. An overall sense of health has been leading to decreases in sales by the quick service food industry over recent years to certain demographics, most specifically the 40-50 year old women.

There is overwhelming amounts of media showing that quick service food is unhealthy for the consumer. This has lead to a drop in the amount of sales to the 40-50 year old women demographic at quick service restaurants. Burger Planet needs to change its menu and strategies to make itself more desirable by the 40-50 year old demographic. Burger Planet can help its image by adding healthy menu items, getting a celebrity spokesperson such as Jane Petersen, revamping Corny the Clowns image, and changing its marketing strategy to appeal to middle aged women.

A healthy menu can be a great jumpstart to attracting 40-50 year old women to Burger Planet. Healthy choices such as fresh fruit, salads, and fat free chicken sandwiches can attract demographics that are more health conscious, and wouldn’t regularly eat at a quick service restaurant. By adding these healthy food options, 40-50 year old women are much more likely to eat at Burger Planet, as well as bring in family and friends to eat.

A celebrity spokesperson can work wonders for a quick service restaurant. By hiring health guru Jane Petersen, Burger Planet can revamp its image. Jane Petersen is known nationally by 40-50 year old women because of her success in helping talk show host Opal Whitcomb lose weight, and become healthier. Petersen is a name that many women will recognize, and is someone who these women will trust for health advice. By having Petersen help with the promotion of the new healthy items on Burger Planets menu, it is possible to attract more 40-50 year old women.

Corny the Clown has been taken out of Burger Planet’s marketing strategy for several years now, because quick service restaurants have been accused of unfairly marketing to children with mascots. Adding new healthy menu items is the perfect opportunity to revamp Corny’s image. By teaming Corny up with Petersen, his name will be turned into something new, and we can use Corny the Clown once again. This will help attract children to Burger Planet, without having negative consequences for using a mascot.

With new healthy menu items, Jane Petersen, and Corny the Clown, a great marketing strategy will have to be used. If Petersen and Corny do a tour to malls and other events, Burger Planets healthy menu items will receive exposure extremely quickly. TV and radio commercials should also be implemented to help raise awareness of Burger Planets new menu items.

While 40-50 year old women are eating at quick service restaurants less often because of negative media and increased health awareness, it is possible to attract that demographic again. By implementing new, healthy menu items, hiring a celebrity spokesperson such as Jane Petersen, revamping Corny the Clowns image, and having a great marketing strategy, it is possible to change Burger Planets image and attract 40-50 year old women once again.