Weekly Global News Wrap: Burger King's moldy whopper ad; Largest US Pizza Hut franchisee mulls bankruptcy; How Subway is rebuilding their business

Here is a summary of the most interesting QSR news stories of the week from around the world.

Burger King recently launched a video ad showcasing its Whopper burger in molds, in part of its launch of burgers sans artificial preservatives in select stores worldwide. About 400 stores in the US are offering the clean burgers. Read more here. 

KFC in the US announced it is making a nationwide roll out of its Chicken & Donuts offering after its test run last year. The new pair meal will be available at participating restaurants for a limited time. Read more here. 

Subway said in its recent meeting in its headquarters that it wanted to act more “entrepreneurial” and more like “old Subway,” a source told Restaurant Business. This came after 300 workers were laid off recently, which move was done to reverse the chain’s seven-year dip in sales. Read more here. 

Pizza Hut’s largest franchisee in the US mulled a filing of bankruptcy, amongst restructuring options as the operator of 1,600 restaurants got bogged down with a US$1 billion debt. Sources told Bloomberg that NPI International has started negotiating with lenders amidst months of declining sales. Read more here. 

McDonald’s and Starbucks in the US are set to introduce two types of smart reusable cups in shops in San Francisco and Palo Alto in California, Bloomberg has reported. These cups, developed under the NextGen Cup challenge project led by the two fast food companies, are made from plastic and outfitted with RFID chips or QR codes for tracking. Read more here. 

Moreover, the chicken giant announced it is soon launching a six-pack of scented candles that smell like the ingredients of its Quarter Pounder: bun, ketchup, pickles, cheese, onion and beef, CNN has reported. Also, the fast food chain has released a line of merch inspired by the same burger, including mittens, calendars and pins, available for purchase on McDonald’s fan club website. Read more here. 

Papa John’s International appointed Amanda Clark as its new chief development officer, overseeing the pizza company’s franchise development and sales. Clark previously worked for Taco Bell as its executive VP of restaurant experience. Read more here. 

IHOP announced it is launching its biggest promo on its National Pancake Day event, where one customer can get free pancakes for life, along with giving away 250,000 prizes. The pancake chain seek to raise US$4 million for its multiple charities, including Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals and Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Read more here. 

Hard Rock Cafe’s parent collaborated with lifestyle swimwear brand Snapper Rock in creating an exclusive swimwear collection featuring the brand’s iconic logo and guitar print. The new collection is made from Snapper Rock’s UPF50+ protection-infused fabric. Read more here. 

Wingstop in the US’ same-store sales (SSS) were up 11.1%, its 16th consecutive year of SSS growth, adding to the chain’s system-wide sales growth of 20.1% to US$1.5 billion in FY 2019. In the year, they opened 133 restaurants worldwide, bringing its total store count to 1,385. Read more here.