Burger King

Co-workers could snack without fear of reprimand, but Christine Shaffer got a disciplinary write-up at the Burger King in Broomall for helping herself to a small piece of chicken, her lawyers said. At the time, she was so hungry she felt ill, they said. Her attorneys, Richard J. Silverberg and Rebecca J. Houlding, sued Burger King Corp. in federal court in Philadelphia late Tuesday, seeking more than $100,000 on her behalf. The suit alleges that Burger King violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by mistreating Shaffer.

The force of "universal laws" can either make or break any enterprise. That's the philosophy of Barry J. Gibbons, former chairman and CEO of Burger King, who is credited with the turnaround of the fast-food chain - without cutting heads. Gibbons' laws - trumpeted as simple truths for running any business profitably and sensibly - can be found in his new book, "If You Want to Make God Really Laugh, Show Him Your Business Plan: The 101 Universal Laws of Business. " Some examples: Universal Law No. 10. People are coin operated.

Leroy Wensel, owner of the Mobil gas station and mini-market on Lewis Road, figured he had the perfect spot for a Burger King - right next to the Linfield-Limerick exit of Route 422, a place swelling with commuter and shopper traffic. "I'm developing a small little complex," he said yesterday. "The populace is really growing around here. " Township officials were not as excited about Wensel's enterprising idea. Code-enforcement officer Marc John ruled that the Burger King would need a zoning variance because fast-food restaurants were not allowed within the office and limited-industrial district under which the plan was submitted.

To you, a french fry may only be an accompaniment to a hamburger. But to McDonald's and Burger King, it is the ultimate weapon in the fast-food wars. And the $39 billion burger battle between the fast-food giants is heating up this week as McDonald's is starting to test-market a new hamburger - called the MBX or Big Extra - in southeastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey and parts of Delaware. But in a major strategic assault, Burger King is determined to wrest some of McDonald's french fry faithful away.

new products I Burger King: Come taste our fries - free Burger King said yesterday it will give away free french fries at all of its fast-food restaurants in the United States and Canada on Friday. The giveaway, "with no purchase required and no strings attached," will allow consumers to sample its reformulated french fries, which were "judged superior to McDonald's in a nationwide, independent consumer taste test," the company said in a statement. It said the giveaway will be the largest one-day sampling event in the history of fast food.

Where would television be without General Motors and Procter & Gamble Co.? More than $2 billion poorer for one thing. According to this week's Advertising Age magazine, the two companies are the top spenders on TV advertising. They rank first and second respectively in spending on network TV - which gets the biggest bucks. In total spending in all advertising media, Procter & Gamble (maker of Tide, Folger's Coffee, Crest toothpaste, Pantene Hair Products and about 40 other products)

This week, I reached out for a Hickory Smoked Whopper, offered for a limited time only at Burger King. Here's the blueprint: Start with a regular, fully loaded Whopper off the assembly line, then crown it with a slice of hickory-smoked Cheddar cheese and four half-slices of hickory-smoked bacon. Voila! A Hickory Smoked Whopper. And the sweet hickory really does kick the burger up a notch. In a related development, the seventh president of the United States was Andrew "Old Hickory" Jackson.

They came to take a bite out of Philadelphia. Kids know them as Kenan and Kel, and a handful of fans lucky enough to be hanging out in burger joints on South Street or eating in Dave & Buster's on Delaware Avenue got the chance to meet them. To the rest of us, they're Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell, stars of the newly released film "Good Burger" and popular Nickelodeon shows "All That" and "Kenan and Kel. " When they wanted to get a "good burger" in Philly, Thompson and Mitchell preferred to eat at Johnny Rockets, a small chain that recently opened a restaurant on South Street.

They're called the Hardy Souls. Every weekday morning, 100 to 150 people, most of them elderly, visit the Springfield Mall to walk. The mall opens early for them, at 8:30, and most finish their rounds - five laps is about a mile - before the stores open at 10. "People walk here for the companionship and to stay healthy," said Jule Niemeyer, 77, the group's unofficial greeter, who has had three heart bypass surgeries and has been walking the...