Burger King Burger Buddies
Burger King's mini-burger saga: first Burger Bundles, whose tiny patties fell through the flame-broiler, then Burger Buddies — a single figure-eight patty on conjoined buns, made to be torn into two little cheeseburgers for 99 cents. A novelty born from an engineering failure.
In 1987, Burger King introduced Burger Bundles — miniature burgers sold in packs of three or six, a White Castle-style play that caught on with preteens and teens faster than the chain expected. But the engineering failed: the silver-dollar-sized patties were too small for Burger King's automated flame-broiler and simply fell through its chain. Burger King pulled Burger Bundles from the menu in late 1987.
The fix was Burger Buddies: a single figure-eight-shaped patty on a pair of conjoined buns, designed to be torn in half into two mini cheeseburgers — 99 cents, engineering problem solved. There was even a 99-cent Breakfast Buddies version with egg, cheese, and sausage. Buddies faded from menus in the early 1990s all the same, but the format never truly died: in 2009 Burger King revived the figure-eight concept as BK Burger Shots, proof that some menu items are just ideas too weird to stay dead.
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