Burger King Is Offering Back-to-School Meal Deals. Here’s What’s Going On

Burger King has upped the ante in the ongoing fast-food wars with its back-to-school meal deals. The fast-food restaurant is hoping to entice kids (and their parents) into its stores to make purchases. Here’s what’s included in the chain’s back-to-school meal deals.

Burger King & the End of Summer Extravaganza

PEOPLE is reporting that Burger King will be handing out free King Jr. Meals from Aug. 12 to Aug. 25. The main, side, drink, and treat components of the package can all be satisfied with a wide variety of menu items. For their main course, kids can select between a double cheeseburger, four-piece chicken nuggets, six-piece chicken nuggets, cheeseburger, or hamburger. Customers can choose between apple sauce, onion rings, french fries, or Have-sies, a combination of half onion rings and half french fries. A drink, such as apple juice or soda, and a gift, such as a toy or a chocolate chip cookie, are also included with the kids’ lunch.

The King Jr. Meal is a freebie available to all Burger King reward members with a $10 purchase.

This offering from the fast-food chain is just the latest in the ongoing fast-food price wars. According to CNBC, “Restaurant CEOs have become obsessed with the word ‘value’ in explaining to investors why their sales lagged this quarter while sharing plans to revive traffic in the coming months,” which is why the fast-food price wars are just getting worse.

“It’s a value war. It’s a fight for share of wallet … at a time when our target guest is dining out less, we have to make sure that when they do choose to dine out — IHOP or Applebee’s or Fuzzy’s are their first choice,” said John Peyton, CEO of Dine Brands, in a statement to Yahoo! Finance.

One of Many Major Changes

For its part, Burger King is implementing several changes to its chain of restaurants, and the free King Jr. Meal is just the latest development.

Last month, the restaurant’s “Reclaim the Flame” campaign was launched. The famous Whopper with new taste variations and premium branding is emphasized heavily in the marketing. The restaurant is also looking for enthusiasts to assist in designing its upcoming Whopper creation, which will be unveiled this year.

As part of its “Reclaim the Flame” campaign, Burger King invested $250 million to update its restaurants with new cooking appliances, cutting-edge technology, and a more modern aesthetic — all while paying homage to the Whopper. The company said in April 2024 that it would increase the budget for store renovations by $300 million.

Additionally, the enormous fast-food business officially bid adieu to its original mozzarella sticks in May of this year, but it didn’t take long to switch them out for Mozzarella Fries, a unique twist on the beloved snack.

The Mozzarella Fries is now a regular menu item at Burger King restaurants across the nation, despite being initially offered as a test item in Columbus, Ohio, in 2023.

Beyond Whoppers and fries, Burger King is adding many interesting new things to its menu. The company has been releasing new foods, drinks, and desserts at a rapid pace since the start of the year.

In order to directly compete with McDonald’s $5 Value Meal, the restaurant also served a $5 Your Way value meal. Lastly, Restaurant Brands International (RBI), the parent business, thinks that the wave of large-scale store closures that dotted the first part of the year is now complete.

“We believe most of these closures are behind us and expect a more normalized level of closure activity in 2024,” said RBI CEO Josh Kobza during a February earnings call.