NEW YORK (AP) - Some Burger King customers are finding it hard to swallow that the home of the Whopper could move to Canada.
Investors seemed to welcome the announcement by Burger King late Sunday that it was in talks to buy Canadian coffee-and-doughnut chain Tim Hortons and create the world's third-largest fast-food restaurant company. The news pushed shares of both companies up more than 20 percent.
But customers were already voicing their discontent with the 60-year-old hamburger chain because of its plans to relocate its corporate headquarters from Miami to Canada in a deal that could lower its taxes. By Monday afternoon, Burger King's Facebook page had more than 1,000 mostly negative comments about the potential deal.
Shawn Simpson, who hadn't heard of the talks until approached by a reporter while he was at a Burger King in New York City on Monday afternoon, said he didn't like the idea of the company paying its taxes to another country.
"For them to take their headquarters and move it across the border is a negative for me," said Simpson, 44, who was ordering a Double Whopper and onion rings. "It's an American brand."
A representative for Burger King, Miguel Piedra, said the comments on Burger King's Facebook page represent a small fraction of the company's more than 7 million followers on the social media site.
Burger King isn't the first company to face fallout over a tax inversion, which is when a company acquires a business in another country, then relocates its headquarters there. Earlier this month, Walgreen abandoned plans to pursue a tax inversion after negative publicity about the planned move.
Unlike many other companies, Burger King's move also has the potential to turn off customers as well, since it's a brand people are so familiar with. It's difficult to gauge whether such fallout would hurt the fast-food chain's business in the U.S.
Some analysts say even if some Burger King customers are initially angered by the move, the feelings could quickly fade since there wouldn't be any significant changes in restaurants as a result of the deal.