Last month, a blogger with the Memphis Flyer reported that several Burger King restaurants in the Memphis, Tenn., area had posted the message “Global warming is baloney” on their roadside signs.
Blogger Chris Davis followed up with Burger King Corp. and reported that the company said the franchisee, Memphis-based Mirabile Investment Corporation (MIC), was ordered to remove the messages. A Burger King spokesperson told Davis that the franchise agreement makes it clear that the reader board, the restaurant or any other advertising/promotional vehicles cannot be used promote any specific political and/or religious beliefs.
However, the Guardian then reported that MIC’s marketing president, John McNelis, said that Burger King did not have the authority to tell the franchisee to remove the sign and that the franchisee has the right to put any message up at its restaurants because they are on private property. More.
