Hungry Jack's

History of "Burger King" in Australia

When Burger King moved to expand its operations into Australia, it found that its business name was already trademarked by a takeaway food shop in Adelaide. As a result, Burger King provided the Australian franchisee, Jack Cowin, with a list of possible alternative names derived from pre-existing trademarks already registered by Burger King and its then corporate parent Pillsbury that could be used to name the Australian restaurants. Cowin selected the "Hungry Jack" brand name, one of Pillsbury's U.S. pancake mixture products, and slightly changed the name to a possessive form by adding an apostrophe and "s" to form the new name "Hungry Jack's". The first Australian franchise of Burger King Corporation was established in Innaloo, Perth on 18 April 1971, under the auspices of Cowin's new company Hungry Jack's Pty Ltd. By the end of its first decade of operation, Hungry Jack's had expanded to 26 stores in three states. In October 1981, the company opened its first New South Wales store in Sydney's CBD on the corner of Liverpool and George Street. In 1986, the chain entered Victoria by purchasing 11 stores from the ailing Wendy's Hamburger chain, later converting them to Hungry Jack's.

2002 to present

After Burger King Corporation lost the case, it decided to terminate its operations in the country and in July 2002 the company transferred its assets to its New Zealand franchise group, Trans-Pacific Foods (TPF). The terms of the sale had TPF assume oversight of the Burger King franchises in the region as the Burger King brand's master franchisee. Trans-Pacific Foods administered the chain's 81 locations until September 2003 when the new management team of Burger King Corporation reached an agreement with Hungry Jack's Pty Ltd to re-brand the existing Burger King locations to Hungry Jack's and make Hungry Jack's Pty the sole master franchisee of both brands. An additional part of the agreement required Burger King Corporation to provide administrative and advertising support as to ensure a common marketing scheme for the company and its products. Trans-Pacific Foods transferred its control of the Burger King franchises to Hungry Jack's Pty Ltd, which subsequently renamed the remaining Burger King locations as "Hungry Jack's," joining the other 210 outlets at the time.

Many new Hungry Jack's restaurants have a 1950s theme. Music from this era may be played within the restaurant (occasionally through a '50s-style jukebox) with associated contemporary pictures and memorabilia utilized as part of the decor. In the larger sit-down style restaurants, the seats and tables are laid out in a 1950s diner style.

In the 2009–2010 financial year, Competitive Foods Australia reported an after-tax profit of $32.1 million on sales of $1.043 billion.

In late 2011, it was announced that Hungry Jack's will undergo a complete overhaul of its menus, restaurants, staff uniforms and advertising. The 'Burgers are Better' slogan has been replaced with 'Hungry Jack's makes it better'. The current '70s style restaurants will be renovated, new Asian styled meals and Organic beef options have been added to the menu and a new website and mobile application have been created. The full redesign is expected to be completed by the end of the 2013 financial year.

Products

Hungry Jack's products include burgers (meat and vegetarian options), chicken, chips, onion rings, salads, drinks (hot and cold beverages) kid meals and desserts, as well as a full breakfast menu. The only Burger King trademarks that are sold at Hungry Jack's are the Whopper and the TenderCrisp and TenderGrill sandwiches. All other Burger King products go by more generic naming schemes, such as "Hamburger", "Veggie Burger", or "Grilled Chicken Burger".

Hungry Jack's breakfast menu, introduced in late 2005 in three states (Queensland, Western Australia, and Northern Territory) and the other states the following year in 2006, bears little resemblance to Burger King's US breakfast menu. The main breakfast sandwich is served on either an English muffin or a wrap (breakfast burrito) instead of a croissant; the hash browns are served as patties as opposed to Tater Tots and the restaurant features pancakes. Hungry Jack's now includes new healthier option salad line and deli style baguettes.

Advertising

Hungry Jack's in Australia has trademarked the new slogan, 'Oh Yeah', which was featured in television commercials that ran late 2005/early 2006. While Burger King has updated its logo to the "blue crescent" design in all other markets from 1999, the Hungry Jack's logo is still based on the previous 1996 revised Burger King bun-halves logo, employing the simpler bun-and-filling motif.

Hungry Jack's Kids Club

Hungry Jack's Kid's Club mascots are unique to the Australian franchisee, as opposed to other international locations that use one of the two existing BK kid's mascots, the Burger King Kids' Club or the Honbatz. HJ does have a Kid's Club program similar to the US offering, offering themed birthday parties at its restaurants along with its Kid's Club Meals. One other noticeable difference between the HJ and BK children's programs is the placement of the apostrophe in the name: HJ places it before the "s" while BK places it after.

Sponsorship

Hungry Jack's retains strong links with Perth: the city's first team in the Australian Football League, the West Coast Eagles, have been sponsored by Hungry Jack's since their entry into the league in 1987.