'Whopperologist wanted' | Burger King branding boosted by staff's funeral tribute & quirky recruitment drive

Burger King employees in North Branch, Minnesota, paid tribute to a regular customer achieving widespread news coverage from the gesture.

Staff at the branch attended the funeral of 91-year-old Jerry Parkin in uniform and brought his regular seat at the restaurant to the service.

Parkin, a daily visitor to the restaurant, was known for enjoying his coffee in the same seat every morning. To honor his memory, staff brought the chair, engraved with his name, birth and death dates, to the funeral, complete with a Burger King crown and an American flag in recognition of his military service.

His daughter was taken aback by the unexpected tribute. “Someone came into the kitchen at church and said, ‘The whole crew from Burger King is here,’” she told local news outlet KARE 11. “And they brought a chair. I said, ‘What?’”