You will take a little Espelette pepper with your chili cheese nuggets ? At the end of March, the fast-food brand Burger King unveiled two new sandwiches on its menu: the Beef Master Basque, and its chicken variant. A very classic burger, served with slices of chorizo, sheep’s cheese from the Pyrenees, and a touch of Espelette pepper sauce. The trick, which has the gift of annoying some defenders of the Basque Country to the highest degree, shows the increased interest of brands for “terroir flavors”. Today’s marketing moves increasingly turn to “territories”. They have become a guarantee of authenticity for brands wishing to break away from their image associated with junk food and wishing to give themselves a more local varnish.
However, these initiatives are not always well received. In Bastia, Burger King’s advertising campaign even arouses indignation. “It’s intolerable, annoys Paxkal Indo, president of the Basque Country Development Council. They usurp our identity. We have no desire for people to associate the Basque Country with a brand of fast food when we spend millions of euros in communication on our living well and eating well!” Despite their bitterness, the inhabitants can do nothing against this use: Burger King has respected the rules for using the controlled designation of origin (AOP) sauce with Espelette pepper. “Since we launched our Masters ranges, made up of 100% French beef, we have been keen to highlight regional culinary specificities, such as Fourme d’Ambert in our Master Auvergnat or Cantal AOP in our Master of the same name”, writes the brand to L’Express. “We are convinced that the gastronomic richness of each region deserves to be made accessible to as many people as possible and everywhere in France”, she added, continuing: “If that makes the French want to consume Espelette pepper in other recipes of their choice, we will have won our bet.” The argument is irritating: “This sauce only represents a very small part of the burger!” Paxkal Indo is indignant.
The Auvergne example
It doesn’t matter if the brand claims to use French products for the rest of its sandwich. “French, not Basque, he says. I don’t see how this burger benefits anyone other than Burger King, when they don’t hesitate to exploit our image.” Difficult, however, to speak of “usurpation” when the “Basque” brand does not exist. “The actors of the Basque Country had tried to agree to create an appellation which would have been a guarantee of quality. But this project was abandoned”, relates Paxkal Indo. For now, anyone in France can choose to use the term “Basque” on their product, without this action being reprehensible. “The term ‘Basque’ was not protected as a trademark, confirms Clara Viguié, lawyer in intellectual property law. The community cannot therefore oppose this use on the basis of trademark law. It could if necessary, act on the basis of unfair or deceptive commercial practices. But for that, it would have to succeed in characterizing a faulty intention on the part of Burger King.
The Basque Country is not the only territory to have aroused the greediness of the fast-food giant. In 2021, Burger King unveiled an Auvergnat and Rösti Auvergnat sandwich. As with the Basque burger, the company put forward its use of French meat (Charolais) and bread (grown and manufactured), combined with a PDO cheese from the region concerned. Previously, the channel had also included the Master Cantal on its list.
“It’s a fairly proven strategy, analyzes Julien Féré, doctor of information and communication sciences at the Celsa Paris Sorbonne and marketing communication partner for Onepoint. Many fast food restaurants try to mix their American identities by using French products.” The McDonald’s competitor also highlights its use of French products in its burger offer: Tomme des Pyrénées IGP, McRaclette, Charolais… Since 2012, the yellow M brand has been promoting its partnerships with producers offering local appellations. Going even further in the process, the brand had even ended up diverting the baguette, the French symbol par excellence, to make a burger. Similarly, KFC, another fast food chain specializing in chicken, has launched a selection of “raclette addict” products. In each case, the approach is similar: using a local identity (the Basque Country, Auvergne) or a national one (a symbol or a product identified as “French”) to give a new varnish to the brand. “Companies are trying to redeem their virginity on French territory, by ensuring that they supply themselves as close as possible to their consumers”, explains Julien Féré.
Food anxiety
The appeal to the local and especially to the “terroir” has one objective: to attract customers who are increasingly tempted by the local. In 2021, a survey by the OpinionWay Institute carried out for the General Agricultural Competition showed that 9 out of 10 French people “at least occasionally” consume local products. In another study, this time carried out by Ifop in May of the following year, 39% of those questioned indicated that the main food issue for France was to promote food of local origin. More than a third of them (35%) would also like the relocation of agri-food industries to France. “Since the second half of the 20th century, we have experienced an unprecedented internationalization of eating habits, remarks Aurélie Kassous, university professor at the IAE Aix-Marseille. In the 1980s, fast food chains imported into France the American culinary dream: to eat any product, from anywhere, at any time of the day. But the health scandals have eroded this momentum.”
In the mid-1990s, the mad cow disease scalded European consumers. The fear of transmission of a virus from beef to humans led to an embargo in March 1996 of many European countries on British beef. Four years later, hamburger specialists are experiencing very concrete effects on their profits. Affected in parallel by the weakness of a euro just introduced, McDonald’s saw its turnover drop by 2% in Europe. “Other health crises will follow one another, each time perceived as the result of uncontrolled food production”, observes Aurélie Kassous. If the fast food chains are in no way involved in the scandals in question, their image associated with junk food makes them vulnerable. “In the mind of the consumer, modern food has become a source of anxiety, while traditional food reassures and secures”, deciphers Aurélie Kassous. In these uncertain times, the “terroir” appellations act as a safe haven.
Brands rooted in the territories
The retail chains were not mistaken. The first “made in terroir” private labels (MDD) almost all appeared on supermarket shelves after the outbreak of the mad cow crisis. The latter had the “objective of reassuring the consumer in a context of food crisis and health crises”, notes Pierre-Yves Bellier in his thesis “Local distributor brands as a tool for legitimizing mass distribution”.. In 1996, Carrefour created Escapades gourmandes, then acquired Reflets de France. Three years later, Leclerc proclaimed “Our regions have talent”, before Auchan presented “Products from our regions” in 2003. Perceived as positive by consumers, local private labels have made a lasting place for themselves in their Shopping Carts. They even allow large surfaces, as noted by one study carried out in October 2018to improve their image by rooting them in a territory.
It’s no surprise that fast food chains regularly turn to “local” appellations to improve their reputation. “With this approach, fast foods combine a transgressive food, fatty and a priori bad for health, combined with the local side, deemed healthy and authentic”, continues Aurélie Kassous. The case of the “Basque burger” is an illustration of this marketing approach: the adjective serves above all to evoke an imagination. “This approach has been adopted by many other brands before Burger King”, remarks Julien Féré. In a article titled “Rhetoric of the image”, Roland Barthes had already noted the way in which Panzani, a French brand, put forward in its advertisements codes perceived as Italian by consumers. “He had mentioned the ‘Italianness’ of Panzani advertisements. You could say that Burger King is basquity”, laughs Julien Féré.
Regions and cities have understood this growing interest in their image. Since the creation of Only Lyon in 2007, more and more local authorities have chosen to create “territorial brands” in order to develop their attractiveness. The Biarritz-Pays-Basque brand exists today. “But it is a destination brand, which is used for tourism, and cannot protect our local products”, regrets Paxkal Indo. Burger King’s advertising campaign may well have revived the projects in Biarritz. “You have to be opportunistic. We’ll see if our players can’t finally agree on a real brand,” he hopes. Soon finished, surfing on basquité?