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- Burger King Belgium has launched a Change.org campaign to get a Michelin star for its new Master Angus Burger.
- Rather than silver cutlery, satin tablecloth and valet parking, reviewers will be faced with paper napkins, finger dining, and a drive-through, Burger King Belgium CEO Kevin Derycke joked.
- “Who said you needed silver service?” Michelin responded.
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Burger King Belgium thinks that its new Master Angus burger deserves a Michelin star – and has launched a Change.org petition to get one.
“We know very well that ‘Burger King’ and ‘Michelin star restaurant’ don’t mix,” Burger King Belgium CEO Kevin Derycke wrote on the petition.
The petition launched on September 23 and has fewer than 500 signatures at the time of writing.
He added that, compared to other Michelin star eateries, Burger King replaces silver cutlery, satin tablecloth and valet parking with paper napkins, finger dining, and a drive-through.
“And yes, you will be served on a tray,” he told Michelin reviewers, in a letter that was also published as a magazine advert.
The petition is a stunt to promote Burger King's new Master Angus burger, which features bacon, mustard, fried onions, and a flame-grilled Angus beef patty.
—Burger King Belgium Gaming (@BurgerKingBE_GG) September 23, 2020
Derycke also added that at Burger King you can get meals in five minutes, and you don't have to book three months in advance.
He asked Michelin to end "the tension that has been going on for 66 years," referring to Burger King's continued lack of a Michelin star since its first site opened in Miami in 1954.
Burger King opened its first restaurant in Belgium in 2017.
Michelin has responded to the campaign, according to a post shared by Burger King Belgium, and its reviewers have already sampled the new product.
"Who said you needed silver service?" Michelin responded. "Watch this space on November 1 to discover our next issue of the Michelin Guide for Belgium and Luxembourg, and find out if Burger King deserves a star!"
The Michelin Guide was launched to sell tires
The Michelin brothers, who were French car tire manufacturers, launched the Michelin Guide with maps, hotel and restaurant information, and tire repair advice in 1900. Their aim was to encourage more people to drive at a time when there were fewer than 3,000 cars in the country – and, in turn, buy more tires.
Over the decades this expanded to include a more comprehensive restaurant guide. The brothers also started to charge for the guide, and removed the paid-for advertisements previously included.
As the influence of the guide grew, the brothers recruited a team to visit and review restaurants anonymously.
The guide first awarded a single star to the highest-quality restaurants in 1926, but five years later it expanded this so that restaurants could be awarded up to three stars.