National Post editorial board: Beware America’s ruthless burger monarch

[unhappycamper]

http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2014/08/28/national-post-editorial-board-beware-americas-burger-monarch/



National Post editorial board: Beware America’s ruthless burger monarch
National Post Editorial Board | August 28, 2014 7:21 AM ET

Oh, he smiles nice for his royal retinue. But remember that the Burger King — like any absolute monarch — cares not a whit for the common people, especially if they are Canadian.

The Burger King’s expansionist desires have been clear for many years. But with the brazen annexation of an iconic Canadian restaurant chain this week, the time for appeasement is over.

In interviews with the Financial Post, the Burger King’s minions assured Tim Hortons customers that their coffee-and-crullers experience would remain untouched. Words in the wind. We recall hearing similar soothing noises from the last quick-service imperialist to darken our door: the deceptively avuncular Dave Thomas, who claimed Tim Hortons for Princess Wendy’s empire in 1995. Soon enough, Tim Hortons was playing Hungarian to Wendy’s Austro, with the aromas of coffee and beef mingling outrageously under the same roof in suburban and roadside “combo locations” while King Dave counted his golden doubloons in Florida.

The ensuing Fast Food Wars of the mid-2000s were bitter and protracted, coming at a great cost in blood, treasure and condiments. Had so many Thomasite forces not deserted en masse after King Dave’s death, we might have lost Tim Hortons forever. But we prevailed, and on IPO Day we danced in the streets as businessman Nelson Peltz became our unlikely Cromwell. Now, the carno-monarchists are back, and we are living among the first days of the Burger Restoration.

[Demeter]

1. Wouldn't it be cool if boycotts on both sides of the border

brought Warren Buffett to his knees?