Burger King has a weird French cult following
A customer reacts after being served at the Burger King fast food restaurant in Marseille’s airport, in Marignane, southern France, on Dec. 22, 2012. Marignane’s Burger King is the first shop of the brand to open in France after 15 years of absence and marks the return of the famous Whopper burger in the country.
Burger King is as mainstream as a fast food chain can get in the United States, but over in France, it has a cult following.
“They have the name recognition, that weird cult following in France,” Michael Schaefer, an analyst at Euromonitor International, tells Bloomberg.
You see, Burger King is finally returning to France after a 15-year hiatus. In December, it opened its first store since being forced out by overwhelming competition from McDonald's. Now, it's planning to open more.
And French mouths are watering.
“As soon as French people get to London or Ibiza, they go to Burger King,” said Gauthier Boche, a lecturer at Paris Sorbonne university. He said the brand is like "a lover who lives far away.”
Lunchtime at Marseille airport — Burger King's sole French location right now — can spawn wait times that reach up to 45 minutes.
That's a long time to wait for a Whopper.
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