Fast food inflation is real, and as grocery prices continue to rise, products only seem to be getting smaller. To combat shrinkflation (and customer dissatisfaction), many fast food chains are expanding their value menus and discounts, including McDonald’s McValue Menu and Subway’s Meal Deal. But as some restaurants ramp up offerings, the Burger King Whopper seems to have shrunk more and more over the last decade — and fans have noticed.
Did the Burger King Whopper shrink?
Though there’s no official confirmation that the BK Whopper is shrinking, long-time customers, Burger King fans, and even former employees took to social media to express their disappointment in the chain after ordering the burger.
“I just ordered a whopper from Burger King which I used to enjoy eating,” “disappointed’ BK customer Vicki Madison commented on a Quora forum about the size of the Whopper. “The taste used to be great…but the one I just ate was smaller and not as thick and nowhere near the taste of a grilled burger like it was in [the] past.”
One Redditor shared an experience similar to Madison’s on a recent Reddit thread discussing if the Burger King Whopper has shrunk. “I don’t eat Burger King very much, but I remember the size of my Jr. Whopper back 5, 6 years ago and it was much bigger than the tiny slider size I got a year ago,” wrote @SteelersPoker. “So I’m pretty confident your regular Whopper is also smaller.”
“Thank god it isn’t just me,” wrote user jacky4u3, who used to be a manager at Burger King in the late 1990s and tried a Whopper this past March. “They used to be larger. The diameter of them. No one will convince me differently.”
The former employee continued, proposing that one potential “hack” that BK might be using to shrink the Whopper without actually shrinking it. To make sure the weight stays the same, Burger King can shrink the meat portion of the patty “and push a little more brine into it to make weight,” according to jacky4u3, who said a Whopper’s “weight is counted before it’s cooked.”
Reddit user Redneptune2 suggested that the burger “Shrunk in size d[ue] to labor costs,” but Burger King hasn’t confirmed if the Whopper has shrunk, let alone why.
What is the Burger King Whopper lawsuit?
Beyond internet attention, the shrinking Whopper has garnered the attention of federal courts, too. A 2022 class action lawsuit alleged that Burger King advertised the Whoppers to appear bigger than they actually are, and on May 5, judge U.S. District Judge Roy K. Altman of Florida denied BK’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit. According to court documents, it is “plausible to believe that some reasonable consumers could be deceived by BKC’s advertisements.”
On the Quora forum, Michael Margolies agreed that “Without question [Whoppers] got smaller…The burger used to cover the whole bun and today it does not.” Margolies’ claim echoes the plaintiff’s sentiment, as the advertisements in question show a Whopper patty that extends beyond the surface of the burger bun.
The 19 plaintiffs from 13 states who sued Burger King argued that the burgers featured in Whopper advertisements and imagery were “approximately 35% larger in size, and contain more than double the meat, than the actual burger.”
And while some Redditors argued that McDonald’s burger shrinkflation is worse than Burger King’s false adverts, a similar case was dismissed in November 2024. Who knows if the ruling will change advertising images, or if the Whopper’s quality will finally return to its Y2K glory days.