25 Interesting Facts You Didn’t Know About Burgers

1. Robert Downey Jr. claims that Burger King saved his life from his drug addiction. While at a stop at Burger King in 2003, his car had “tons of f***ing dope.” He ate a burger and he found it so disgusting that it made him rethink his life. He then threw all his drugs into the ocean.

2. In ‘n’ Out Burger used to let customers add as many extra patties with cheese as they wanted to their burgers until one group of 8 ordered one burger with 100 patties, which contained 19,450 kcals.

3. In 2009, Burger King launched a campaign that if you unfriended 10 friends on Facebook, you were entitled to a free whopper. The ex-friend would then receive a message explaining that their friendship was less valuable than a whopper.

4. McDonald’s burger doesn't rot and it’s not because there are any mysterious chemicals in it, but because low moisture and dehydration basically turns it into a jerky.

5. In Holland a McDonald’s worker bought a hamburger and then asked for a slice of cheese. The cashier was fired for not charging her the full price of a cheese burger. Taken to court, the Court responded that a warning would have been enough and ordered them to pay her $5900 for 5 months pay.

6. The reason that burgers look so good in commercials is because they are undercooked.

7. In 1968 in Mattoon, Illinois, a small restaurant called “Burger King” won a lawsuit against the giant fast food chain of the same name because they had trademarked the name first. Today, there are no Burger Kings joints legally allowed within 20 miles of this restaurant.

8. You can order a Land, Sea and Air Burger off of McDonald’s secret menu.

9. In Australia, Burger King is called “Hungry Jack’s”

10. The Big Mac had two previous names: “aristocrat” and “blue ribbon burger”, both of which failed in the marketplace.

11. In 1996 McDonalds attempted to introduce a hamburger called the “Arch Deluxe,” a higher-end burger marketed specifically to adults. It was released with one of the most expensive advertising campaigns to date, and was a complete failure.

12. Burger King had one of the most expensive recalls in history after a 13 month old girl suffocated on a Poké Ball (a toy) that was included with Kids’ meals.

13. Japanese McDonald’s sells a burger called the Big America.

14. There is a restaurant in America called Twisted Root Burger Co that serves kangaroo burgers, beaver burgers, ostrich/emu burgers, and more.

15. Muhammad Ali, being refused a hamburger and told, “We don’t serve negroes”, replied, “That’s OK. I don’t eat ’em.”

16. Pizza Hut in the Middle East sells a cheeseburger crust pizza.

17. During World War 1, the United States Government tried to rename hamburgers as “liberty sandwiches” to promote patriotism.

18. In 2000, Kim Jong Il said that he created the “Hamburger”

19. The reason why breakfast isn't served all day at McDonald’s is mainly because the grill temperature required to cook beef patties is significantly different from the temperature at which eggs are cooked.

20. In 2009 Microsoft promoted Windows 7 in Japan by partnering with Burger King to release a 7 patty Whopper.

21. The Economist has an indicator of the purchasing power of a country measured in how many Big Macs could be bought in that country with $50 USD – The Big Mac Index.

22. In 2011, Argentina’s government forced McDonald’s to sell Big Macs at artificially low prices so that the country’s performance would appear better on the The Economist’s Big Mac Index.

23. In 2004-2005, McDonalds paid rappers to mention Big Macs in their songs and paid them $5 each time their songs got played on the radio.

24. Burger King released a meat-scented cologne in 2008 called “Flame.”

25. McDonald’s is basically a real estate company: “We are in the real estate business. The only reason we sell hamburgers is because they are the greatest producer of revenue from which our tenants can pay us rent.” – Harry J. Sonneborne, McDonald’s founder.