Burger King and Wendy's probably wish McDonald's would announce massive job hiring more often: the "50,000 McJobs" announcement corresponds with a lift in the corporate reputation of all three burger chains for adults 18+ making less than $25,000.
QSR's have not always had particularly favorable reputations, but the McDonald's announcement shook the category up this past week. At the end of March, McDonald's reputation was the lowest of the three major burger chains, with a -17.6 reputation score. By Monday, April 11th, a week after the "McJobs" publicity hit, sentiment swung the other way, sending McDonald's to a 12.2 reputation score, positioning it just ahead of rival Burger King. Brands for this research were measured using their Reputation score, which asks respondents: "Would you be proud or embarrassed to work for this brand?"
The "McJobs Halo Effect" helped rival Burger King, which was hovering around zero, but has now moved upwards to a modest 9.9.
Despite the positive effect on McDonald's and Burger King, neither chain has reached the average Reputation score of the top QSR chains, which also took a timely bump up on the news. The Top QSR Sector average is now 15.5.
Wendy's, which was also hovering around the zero mark at the end of March, has rocketed to 30.6, far ahead of the competition and the QSR Sector average.
