A fake Burger King restaurant has been unmasked in Pittsburgh, PA, after customers started asking questions about some details that just didn’t add up. My question is, “Why counterfeit a Burger King outlet in the first place?”
Things not as they seem in South Pittsburgh…
The short answer is, the devious dark forces behind the scam probably wanted to take advantage of Burger King Corp.’s millions of dollars per year of advertising to bring in customers. Seems there was no legitimate BK outlet anywhere near the bogus burger joint’s location in South Pittsburgh. It’s not beyond the realm of reason or possibility that the scammers thought they could get away with it. There were similar stories, years ago, when A&W pulled back many of its Canadian franchises because they weren’t doing as well as hoped. But some of the outlets were doing great and stayed open as ‘independent’ A&Ws, making their own food and capitalizing on the national Advertising A&W ran in the U.S., which splashed over the border on U.S. TV.
A TV reporter who visited the bogus BK in Pittsburgh to look into that story was reportedly asked to leave by a security guard. But persistence pays off. The reporter later wrote that he finally contacted an assistant manager at the joint and learned that it was once a real Burger King but it wasn’t anymore. It was, they claimed, ‘in transition’ to another burger joint identity. The folks running the place still had the signs up and the menus and the uniforms and all – but their cash register receipts say ‘Southside Burgers’ at the top.
Okay, then. What about…
As a restaurant industry person, I can see how some less than scrupulous types might try to ride the official BK shirt tails until they’re totally ready to go it on their own, under another name. And I’m further convinced I’m on the right track, after hearing that, after the story aired on Pittsburgh TV, other customers called in to say they had ‘Southside Burgers’ receipts from the location dating back to mid November of last year.
At least, the ‘Southside’ gang took down the outdated BK signs after the reporters came calling.
Odd observation of the day…
All that said… The location still shows up as a real BK on the official BK website ‘Location Finder’ page.
Odd is as odd does…
~ Maggie J.