Al Sharpton Plans Burger King Boycott

M I A M I, Oct. 10 -- Activists pressuring Burger King to increase business dealings with blacks said a boycott of the world’s No. 2 fast food company’s restaurants would begin on Wednesday in New York City.

Black civil rights leader the Rev. Al Sharpton said in aletter sent on Tuesday to Colin Storm, chief executive of theunit of British conglomerate Diageo, that picketing wouldbegin on that day at restaurants in New York.

But Sharpton, who last month met with Storm at Burger Kingcorporate headquarters in Miami, said he would not immediatelycall for a wider boycott in the hope of resolving the dispute.Sharpton said he hoped Storm would respond by Oct. 16.

Burger King: Action Unjustified

A spokeswoman for Burger King, with 7,830 U.S. restaurants,said she had not yet seen Sharpton’s letter. The company hassaid the threatened boycott was unjustified and that minorityowners of Burger King outlets strongly opposed the action.

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Rachel Noerdlinger, a spokeswoman for Sharpton, said NewYork was chosen as the launching site for a boycott because noBurger King restaurants in the city were owned by blacks.

A timetable for expanding the boycott, which was to beginwith Sharpton picketing a midtown Manhattan outlet, had notbeen fixed, she said. Advocates of the boycott, whose scope wasunclear, last month had talked of actions in as many as 10 U.S.cities.

Sharpton and his supporters, including the Nation of Islam,have said Burger King reneged on a 1996 promise to build asmany as 225 restaurants in inner-city neighborhoods. They havealso said they want Burger King to spend more money onadvertising to blacks and to hire blacks to help with a U.S.equity offering which may come in 2001.

Burger King has said that its business with black suppliershas more than doubled in recent years, it will consider hiringblack investment bankers for its equity offering and 1,173 ofits U.S. restaurants are owned by minorities. It was not clearhow many of the minority owners were black.