Whopper (with cheese?)
Yesterday I was feeling lazy and in need of a fast food fix. I went to BK and while at the drive thru I ordered my Whopper. The voice behind the machine said "with cheese?' I politely said no, but then started to think about it. When did they start asking if you want cheese. To me the think about the Whopper has always been that it is basically a traditional hamburger, where as the Big Mac is a double decker hybrind in som esauce I don't really want to know about and a cold slice of cheese on it. Obviously, I'm over it, but when did cheese become part of the Whopper experience?
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Justpaula
Dec 29, 2012 05:07 PM
I always, and by "always" I mean the three times a year we eat BK, ask for my Whopper with cheese. My guess is that A LOT of people do ask for it with cheese, so they asked you if you wanted it with cheese to preemptively keep you from coming back saying ,"I wanted it with cheese,can I have a different one", which is something that probably has happened thousands of times at every BK in the world....because people probably forget that it doesn't have cheese (like the Big Mac) and forget to request it.
Obviously you weren't over it when you created this post. But, don't take it as an affront to your "Whopper experience"'. My guess is that "the voice behind the machine" was just trying to be efficient.
For the record, I don't like Big Macs. But my reason is that I just don't *get* the extra piece of bread in the middle. Plus, BK makes a far better burger.
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I only get to bk once or twice a year, but my order is always a whopper or a jr whopper, and I always specify, "with cheese." Before I started ordering it with cheese I think they've always asked me if I wanted cheese going back a couple decades.
I've always been a bit of a fan of the bk breakfasts, too, but that's off topic, I guess.
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Also...there may be people who order a Whopper that do not know/realize the default burger is served sans cheese (and bacon). Maybe they get it and complain..expecting cheese. Or complain when they receive it that they have been charged extra. It might be the King's way of saying..." This doesn't come with cheese (or bacon)..."
It;s like a pizza joint asking you if you want toppings when you place an order for a cheese pizza special. The deal might be 2 pizzas for 13 dollars. The fine print says toppings extra. -
In my experience, Burger King has usually been asking "with cheese?" for every Whopper order since at least the late 1990s.
Like what a lot of other people are saying, it's simple upselling. I prefer my Whopper without cheese so I almost always decline.
To me, the Whopper is about a goodly amount of crisp veggies combined with the smoky flavor of the patty and the ketchup/mayo combo. Classic.
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im_nomad
Jan 19, 2011 07:23 AM
One thing I always found odd was when I ordered the veggie burger and they almost always asked me if I wanted it with mayo, and I think I've encountered this with other burger joints and their veggie burgers. I guess some people are ordering these for diets and not as meat substitutes.
I always had mine with mayo. Damn I miss those things. No more soy for me :(
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Been buying whoppers off and on since the chain first came to the suburbs of philly and I always had to ask for it with cheese and it was always quite a bit extra, even when they had whopper wednesdays. I used to ask for a cheese whopper but after my order got messed up a few times in the drive thru I learned to say with cheese to be sure I got my dang cheese.
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re: givemecarbs
linguafood
Jan 21, 2011 12:54 PM
On the occasion of our last road trip I had a Whopper Jr. with cheese, until then my standard order at BK (which I don't really frequent, unless on aforementioned road trips). It sucked so bad, I swore to never go back. The salad was yellow and mushy, and the whole thing tasted like salty baby food. Gross.
That said, I never eat hamburgers. A burger, to me, needs cheese.
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re: jfood
alanbarnes
Jan 18, 2011 06:35 PM
From an historical perpective, "available" is the key. It's been years (decades?) since I had a Whopper, but the "Whopper with cheese" was always a separate menu item. Unlike the Big Mac, which always had two slices of plastic as standard accoutrements.
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re: alanbarnes
c oliver
Jan 18, 2011 08:36 PM
"Whopper with cheese" was definitely in my lexicon but, again, like you, not in decades. There's also "Junior Whopper with cheese." Yesterday on our 400 mile road trip we had the $1 double cheeseburgers. Whoppers are too messy to eat while driving.
ETA: oops, it's Whopper Junior not Junior Whopper :)
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re: Cathy
I wonder whether they would cut the Whopper into four pieces if you requested it ... could be an interesting experiment ... and if they do, take it from there ... sixteen pieces ... "I would like my Whopper cut into 128 pieces each of which is exactly identical to the next" ... have it your way indeed.
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re: jfood
I was born in 1970 and of all the fast food burger joints, BK has always been my favorite. When I dine out at real burger joints, I always get a cheese burger (usually a bleu burger with bacon) but in all my years of going to burger king, I have never once ordered a whopper w/ Cheese. No clue why. Next time!
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re: jhopp217
If I am lucky enough to get the whopper somewhat hot, the cheese will melt a bit and keep the burger warmer if I can't eat it immediately. I love the lettuce, raw onions and sometimes even the tomatoes on a whopper but they do keep their veggies ice cold so whoppers don't stay warm for long in my experience.
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ttoommyy
Jan 18, 2011 10:04 AM
I think the asking "with cheese?" thing is just about everywhere these days. Current fast-food culture dictates that cheese be on just about everything, so when someone asks if you want cheese, it's almost like they are saying "this item doesn't come with cheese and if you are expecting it to, then I'm doing you the favor of asking if you would like it with cheese." Also, at some places adding cheese is "upselling" and adds to the final cost and ultimately the bottom line of the fast food establishment. I don't think this is the case at BK...or is it?
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re: Fibber McGee
scoopG
Jan 18, 2011 06:47 PM
Correct. Or in McDonald's parlance, "selling up."
Whatever you order, they ask you to upgrade.
I'd like one hamburger please.
Would you like something to drink with that?I'd like a burger and Coke please.
Would you like fries with that?I'd like a burger, Coke and fries please.
Would you like an apple pie with that?I'd like a burger, large Coke, large fries and an apple pie please.
Would you like to super-size that?I want a burger, Coke, fries and and apple pie - super-sized please.
Would you like an ice cream sundae with that?-
re: scoopG
chowser
Jan 24, 2011 03:46 AM
I don't know if it's the case anymore but it used to be one of the six steps of serving at McD's (different fast food place, I know; BK expected it at the time but didn't have it officially as a step) and as servers, you'd get marked down if you didn't do it. It's more of a pain for the counter person than the customer when you have to do it w/ every order.
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re: ttoommyy
chowser
Jan 24, 2011 03:51 AM
Those were the two things I was thinking about, too. Customers can get surprisingly irate if they don't get their cheese because they just assume it comes with it. It doesn't matter that it doesn't, they expect you to read their minds. So, it's easier to pre-emptively ask. And, it's also an easier upsell because customers usually think it's just getting additional information, not that they're being asked to buy an apple pie (people get irate about that, too). People get annoyed about everything--ask if they want cheese if they don't, don't ask when they do, etc., etc. There's no winning.
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