BUSINESS

Denny's makes 'peace burger' offer to Burger King after McDonald's blow off

Aamer Madhani
USA TODAY
Denny's on Monday proposed to Burger King that the two restaurants come together to make a hybrid of the Whopper and the Bacon Slamburger.

McDonald's wasn't lovin' it, but the fast casual restaurant chain Denny's is game for making a "peace burger" with Burger King.

In a full-page ads in USA TODAY and The New York Times, Denny's says it wants to collaborate with Burger King to make a mashup burger with the fast-food chain, inserting itself in the Burger King-McDonald's advertising battle.

The Denny's ad comes after McDonald's rejected Burger King's suggestion last week that the two fast food giants sell hybrid "McWhoppers" at an Atlanta pop-up store to mark Peace Day on Sept. 21.

"Hey @BurgerKing, we love the idea of a peace burger. We're just not sure what to call this thing. Any ideas?" Denny's posits in its new ad.

The Miami-based Burger King earned a great deal of publicity after it playfully proposed the peace burger idea to rival McDonald's in full-page ads in the Chicago Tribune and the New York Times. They said the burger enemies could do their part in promoting world peace by coming together to produce a hybrid of the Big Mac and Whopper for one day.

McDonald's CEO Steve Easterbrook responded to Burger King with an open letter on social media in which he suggested it was silly to compare a fast food rivalry to war. Easterbrook, who took over as the slumping fast food chain's top executive earlier this year, signed his letter with a terse, "P.S. A simple phone call will do next time."

Denny's wants to combine elements of its 880 calorie Bacon Slamburger (a hamburger topped with hash browns, a cooked-to-order egg, bacon and pepper jack queso) with the iconic Whopper.

"We can name it the Whamper, the Slamopper, The WhopaSlam…Well, we can figure that out later," Denny's suggests in the ad. On its Twitter account, Denny's also offered a not-so-appetizing "The Slopper" as a suggestion for the proposed burger mashup.

Denny's isn't the only restaurant chain to try to get in on the escalation of the burger war in the name of peace.

The Atlanta-based Krystal, which specializes in sliders, last week suggested on social media that Burger King team up with them to create a tiny square Whopper for the sake of peace.

Krystal suggests the Kropper, the Wystal, or the Tiny King.

Burger King hasn't responded to Denny's or Krystal.