A class action lawsuit was filed against Burger King earlier this year for allegedly charging a higher price on a food item when using a coupon to purchase one item and receive the second item free than when the food item was purchased outright without a coupon.
Koleta Anderson used a coupon at three different Burger King restaurants — one each in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia — on three different days to purchase one Croissan’wich and get another for free. The result was that she paid up to $3.51 more for the Croissan’wich with the coupon than when she bought one without the coupon — but the Croissan’wich purchased with the coupon was never the same price as the one purchased without the coupon.
I Tested the Buy One Get One Free Deal at Burger King. Was I Deceived?
I received a sheet of coupons from Burger King via postal mail yesterday. As I do not particularly like the ingredients on a Croissan’wich — I am not a breakfast person in general — I decided to purchase one Whopper sandwich and get one free with a coupon; and another Whopper sandwich on its own in a separate purchase at the same location to see if I experienced similar results.
Upon walking into the restaurant, the illuminated menu board above the area where customers order food displayed more expensive options — such as meals which included French fries and a soft drink — rather than individual items. The cost of a Whopper sandwich was one of the individual items which was not displayed on the menu board.
One Whopper sandwich was purchased without a coupon at 8:15 in the evening on Wednesday, July 26, 2017; and a second Whopper sandwich was purchased with the buy one get one free coupon less than a minute later.
Sure enough, both receipts reflected the same cost for each purchase: $4.19 for a Whopper sandwich plus 25 cents tax for a grand total of $4.44 for each purchase.
I was not deceived.
Summary
Regardless of whether or not I was comparing apples to oranges — or, in this case, Whoppers to Croissan’wiches – Burger King passed this wildly unscientific test at this one location…
…but I did notice that the price of the Whopper sandwich increased 20 cents from $3.99 at the same location on Monday, February 20, 2017.
I sure am glad I do not eat fast food very often. I did not particularly enjoy the two Whopper sandwiches which I ate; and I am not sure the other person who ate the third Whopper sandwich enjoyed it either. Both of my Whopper sandwiches included quite a bit of gristle and chewy parts to the tepid grayish-brown meat; brown tinged lettuce from close to the hard core; tomatoes which were not ripe enough; too much mayonnaise; and at least one end of a pickle with the stem still attached.
In other words, the specific Whopper sandwiches which I ate for this test were not worth any price — coupon or no coupon.
All photographs ©2017 by Brian Cohen.
