McDonald's vs Burger King
The original burger war: two value-menu giants, scored on menu craft.
A-
McDonald's
Fast food, burgers
The combo is the default: bundle the bill into one number, then layer value and scarcity on top
- Grade
- A-
- Price tier
- $
- Full ticket
- 2.9x base-to-register
- Big Mac, US avg
- ~$5.91 (Apr 2026)
What it does best
- The combo integrates the loss
- Round-number deals are the value signal
- The app reframes the same food as a win
B+
Burger King
American fast food, flame-grilled burgers
Anchor with the Whopper, name the value tiers after their price, and gate the real price behind the app, so every guest sees a number that already feels like a deal
- Grade
- B+
- Price tier
- $
- Full ticket
- 1.9x base-to-register
- Positioning
- No. 2 US burger chain, in turnaround
What it does best
- Premium 'king' burgers anchor the Whopper as mainstream
- The value tiers are named after their price
- The app gates the real price
The verdict
On menu craft, McDonald's edges it: A- to B+. Both are worth reading, but McDonald's's board runs the behavioral levers more cleanly.