UAE Burger King to give away free iftar meals to 10,000 people

Whopper  maker Burger King plans to hand out free iftar meals to a whopping total of around 10,000 people at its fast food restaurants across the UAE on Tuesday night.

Five branches of the fast food firm will offer free meals in Dubai tonight – Sheikh Zayed Road, Al Qouz, Karama, Festival City and Rigga.

In Abu Dhabi, Hamdan and Jazeera branches will offer the meal. Burger Kings in Sharjah, Ajman, Fujairah, Ras Al Khaimah and Al Ain will serve up grub too.

“We want to do good for our community during Ramadan,” said Ayman Abed, the regional marketing manager for Burger King Middle East. The chain expects 10,000 people to show – but insisted they would not run out of food if more turn up.

Stock levels would be “unlimited”, Abed claimed, adding “we are expecting a lot of people.” But Burger King declined to give a figure for the cost of the free food initiative. The offer is available to anyone who turns up at the Burger King branches involved between 6.30pm and 8pm. The free meal consists of a Chicken Flakes sandwich (pictured), fries, a bottle of water and dates.

Public relations guru Sophie Toh, the Dubai-based founder of Toh PR, said Burger King’s move would “create a lot of awareness and connect them with the community.”
However, Toh added that she felt the fast food chain “does not fit well with Arabic tradition and Ramadan.” She said: “I cannot help thinking that this is jumping on the Ramadan bandwagon.”

Chris Woollams, chairman of communications company Katch International, said the move would have been better if targeted towards the poor.

Woollams, who worked closely alongside Sir Richard Branson, the founder of Virgin Group, where he handled their advertising between 1988 and 1994, said: “At first sight it would appear as a good PR stunt.” But Woollams added: “They would have been better off if they had directed it towards the people who have less.”