Hungry Jack’s vs. Burger King: The Aussie burger war you never knew about
Ever wondered why you can’t grab a Burger King burger in Australia?
Instead, we’re all lining up for a Whopper at Hungry Jack’s.
The answer involves a fascinating tale of business blunders, legal battles, a pre-existing milk bar in Adelaide, and waitresses on rollerskates! Yep, you read that right.
Burger King, the global fast-food behemoth, wanted a piece of the Aussie market back in the early 1970s. But there was a snag.
They discovered that the name “Burger King” was already trademarked.
And not by some massive corporation, but by a local chain started by an American expat in Adelaide.
Burger King’s Aussie ambitions
The Adelaide Burger King story is a ripper in itself.
Don Dervan, an American who’d married an Adelaide girl in London, came to South Australia and, spotting a gap in the market, opened his first Burger King drive-in hamburger restaurant in Ashford in 1962.
Dervan, likely aware of the US Burger King founded in 1953, snapped up the name when he found it wasn’t registered in Australia.
Dervan’s Burger King chain expanded to 17 restaurants, mainly in South Australia, and by 1970, they were turning over more than a million dollars a year.
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A Hungry Jack’s fast food restaurant in suburban Adelaide, circa 1978.
US born, Adelaide entrepreneur Don Dervan owned and operated a chain of “Burger King” restaurants in Australia in the 1960s. Dervan is photographed here, left, at the Moseley Square outlet. Photo Adrienne Peele.
Dervan’s daughter Adrienne in a photo that was used in an official Burger King poster for the chain. Photo: Adrienne Peele.
Dervan wasn’t shy about borrowing ideas from the American fast-food scene.
His menu even featured “Kentucky Golden Fried Chicken” (sound familiar?) and he cheekily used the slogan “It’s finger-lickin’ good!”.
His “Jumbo Burger” offered a “Steak burger and melted cheese with sliced steak and special barbecue-Q sauce and salad” for a measly 5 shillings and sixpence.
Best of all, burgers were delivered on rollerskates.
Enter Jack Cowin, a shrewd Aussie businessman
When the American Burger King chain came knocking, Dervan agreed to sell them his stores, but he wouldn’t sell the name.
That’s where Jack Cowin comes in.
Burger King partnered with Cowin, giving him the rights to launch the franchise in Australia. Faced with the trademark issue, Cowin did his homework and came up with “Hungry Jack’s”.
Waitresses at the flagship Anzac Highway restaurant. Photo Adrienne Peele.
A car port at the flagship Anzac Highway store.
Hungry Jack’s employee wearing Texas Combo Meal shirt and carrying tray of burgers, fries and drinks.
Legend has it he looked through a list of names owned by Pillsbury (Burger King’s parent company at the time) and “Hungry Jack” stood out.
The first Hungry Jack’s store opened in Perth in 1971.
Hungry Jack’s took off like a rocket, expanding across the country and becoming a household name.
David vs. Goliath: Hungry Jack’s wins
For years, everything was cruising along nicely. But then, in the 1990s, things turned sour. Burger King tried to register its trademark in Australia, which Hungry Jack’s challenged.
A legal stoush erupted when Burger King attempted to terminate the franchise agreement, accusing Hungry Jack’s of breaching the terms.
This is where the story gets really interesting.
Cowin and Hungry Jack’s fought back, arguing that Burger King was acting in bad faith.
In a landmark decision, the courts sided with Hungry Jack’s, allowing them to keep the name and continue operating the restaurants.
Burger King didn’t give up entirely.
Hungry Jacks team members Hannah Watson and Keith Nanayakkara outside the newly reopened Hungry Jacks store in Glenorchy. Picture: Linda Higginson
Hungry Jack’s – a still image from the Stuck at Home Campaign. Picture: supplied
In the early 2000s, they made a brief return to the Australian market, opening a handful of Burger King stores, mainly in New South Wales.
Eventually, Burger King swallowed its pride (and perhaps a Whopper or two) and bought out the original Adelaide “Burger King” trademark.
But instead of rebranding all the Hungry Jack’s restaurants – a massive and costly undertaking – they did a deal to license the Burger King trademark back to Hungry Jack’s. Talk about a plot twist!
Today, Hungry Jack’s continues to thrive as a major fast-food chain in Australia with over 400 locations and employing an estimated 19,000 people across each state and territory.
