Today, the topic "Burger King Crashed" unexpectedly surged to the top of the trending charts, sparking widespread discussion online.
Many consumers reported to the BUG column that Burger King's official App and WeChat mini-program were both unable to function normally, causing frequent failures whether ordering regular meals or trying to purchase new promotional套餐. As consumer complaints mounted, Burger King China issued two consecutive official apologies.
In its first apology, Burger King stated, "Due to an enormous surge in instantaneous traffic, our system's capacity was insufficient. The mini-program/APP is currently undergoing emergency repairs. We sincerely apologize for the poor experience this has caused."
In its second apology, the official account said, "Due to a system failure, some friends were unable to purchase the 2026 Endorser New Year's Gift Box套餐 as intended, for which we are extremely sorry. We fully understand everyone's disappointment at this moment, but please rest assured, no passion will go unrewarded. We will soon open pre-orders for the 2026 Endorser New Year's Gift Box套餐 (featuring the same周边 available on January 4th) on the Burger King official flagship store on Tmall."
It is understood that the source of this incident was the official launch at 10 AM today of Tian Xuning's 2026 Endorser New Year's Gift Box, marking the second problem caused by a co-branding campaign within the past month. Just last December, another co-branded product, the SpongeBob SquarePants "Pineapple Burger," faced issues when the company used pineapple sauce instead of traditional grilled pineapple slices, leading to a mismatch between the actual product and its promotional images.
Industry insiders believe that Burger King is urgently seeking to win back younger consumers. While continuous co-branding marketing can help maintain visibility, such actions are merely a stopgap measure.
The direct cause of the system crash was the hot online sales of a co-branded周边 gift box launched following Burger King's announcement of its new endorser, Tian Xuning. A massive influx of fans rushing to make purchases overwhelmed the system's capacity.
Reports indicate that Burger King officially began sales of the Tian Xuning 2026 Endorser New Year's Gift Box套餐 at 10 AM on January 4th. It was a national limited edition of 60,000 units, priced at 69.9 RMB. Many users reported in the official comments section that the page was already lagging before the event started, and within minutes of sales commencing, both the mini-program and App became inaccessible. The first apology was not issued until 11:12 AM.
However, the problem was not resolved quickly. Approximately an hour later, Burger King China posted another apology. This statement emphasized gratitude for the fans' enthusiasm and promised to continue sales of the same周边 through online channels to compensate consumers who were unsuccessful in the initial rush.
The BUG column contacted a store in Beijing's Haidian District to inquire about the situation. Staff confirmed that the store's allocation of the Tian Xuning 2026 Endorser New Year's Gift Box had already sold out. The employee mentioned that this promotion could only be accessed by ordering through the online mini-program or App for subsequent offline pickup, with in-store direct ordering not supported.
From an industry perspective, for a major platform like Burger King, such a technical collapse triggered by fan economy-driven traffic spikes is highly unusual, fully exposing the brand's lack of preparedness for handling high concurrent user loads.
In fact, this is not the only recent marketing campaign by Burger King to spark controversy. Shortly before this, a co-branded product with the popular animation IP "SpongeBob SquarePants" led to consumer dissatisfaction due to a mismatch between quality and advertising. In early December, Burger King China launched a limited-edition SpongeBob-themed套餐, which included a hamburger promoted as the "Pineapple Burger." However, consumers discovered a significant discrepancy: the promotional images showed a burger generously topped with pineapple, while the actual product contained very little pineapple, disappointing many fans who took to social media to complain that the "Pineapple King Burger has no pineapple," questioning the vast gap between official宣传 and reality, labeling it misleading advertising.
In response, Burger King initially stated that the new burger contained a pineapple granule flavored sauce, but consumers were not appeased. One consumer told the BUG column, "In 2018, Burger King launched a grilled pineapple king burger with thick, whole slices of grilled pineapple. Now it's replaced with fruit sauce, making it hard not to suspect a decline in quality."
Store staff indicated that the relevant pineapple burger contained "sauce with pineapple bits" rather than pineapple slices, and that the product had already been discontinued recently. Regarding whether the traditional pineapple slice burger would return, they had not received any notification.
Industry analyst Zhang Shule told the BUG column that co-branding between fast-food restaurants and popular IPs has long become an industry standard. Whether it's anime IPs, game characters, or celebrities, the purpose of such collaborations is marketing, or more precisely, an attempt to regain the attention of younger demographics. With the popularization of health-conscious concepts and the rise of more affordable Chinese burger brands, Western fast-food chains like Burger King have gradually faded from the "menu" of young people. Consequently, Burger King has an even more urgent need to win back the youth. Continuous co-branding marketing can help maintain a presence and generate a sharp spike in sales; this is a self-preservation mode and a choice made in the absence of rapid product iteration capabilities.
Zhang Shule believes that leading brands have made more attempts in product R&D, iteration, and catering to regional tastes within China. The appeal of their new products, along with services tailored to Chinese eating habits like breakfast and late-night snacks, are superior and were launched earlier than Burger King's, further widening the gap. Even in co-branding marketing, they secure bigger names and produce more hit products. Burger King finds itself caught in the "80%" vortex of the Pareto principle, needing entirely new and diverse hit products to break free from its predicament. Co-branding marketing is merely a temporary fix.
As one of the world's largest fast-food companies, Burger King, under Restaurant Brands International (RBI), has experienced relatively lagging development in China in recent years, with the gap widening compared to competitors like McDonald's and KFC.
On November 10, 2025, news of Burger King China's sale to CPE Yuanfeng became a trending topic, with the deal valued at $350 million. The private equity firm CPE Yuanfeng acquired approximately 83% controlling interest, while parent company RBI retained 17% and a board seat. Reports suggested the sale stemmed from ongoing performance pressures, a reduction in domestic stores, and sales in China being significantly lower than in other markets. CPE plans to inject capital for store expansion, having signed a 20-year master development agreement aiming to expand to over 4,000 stores by 2035. The transaction is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2026.
Furthermore, it was reported that as of November 2025, Burger King China's store count was approximately 1,339, a reduction of 135 stores from the 1,474 stores at the end of 2024. This number is far lower than major competitors like McDonald's and KFC. McDonald's China reached 7,796 stores by the end of 2025, having opened 407 new stores in the first half of 2025 alone—averaging over 2 new stores per day, with 60% located in lower-tier markets. The company aims to open 1,000 new stores annually, exceeding 10,000 stores by 2028. Additionally, Yum China announced its RGM 3.0 strategy during its 2025 Investor Day, targeting a total of 20,000 stores by 2026 and over 30,000 by 2030. Its KFC brand plans to expand to over 17,000 stores by 2028.
Song Jinghua, a veteran food and beverage industry practitioner and co-founder of Lianshi Shidai Chain Strategy Consulting, told the BUG column that when Burger King officially entered the Chinese market in 2005, it aimed for major expansion but was harshly confronted by reality. KFC and McDonald's had already begun laying groundwork in the Chinese market back in the 1990s. After more than a decade of consolidation and development, they had become synonymous with Western fast food. As a new foreign entrant, Burger King found it difficult to capture market share from them.
Song Jinghua stated bluntly that Burger King's positioning is also quite awkward. Its store construction costs are relatively high, stores are primarily concentrated in first- and second-tier cities, coverage in second- and third-tier cities is insufficient, and its average per-person cost of nearly 30 RMB cannot compete with Wallace and Tastien. Having missed the红利 of the下沉 market, and lacking advantage in brand recognition, store count, and market share, Burger King also shows a clear deficiency in innovation capability.
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