2 Reasons The Average McDonald's Makes Twice As Much As Burger King

Calgary Reviews on FlickrThe average McDonald's made $2.4 million in revenue last year, compared to $1.2 million for the average Burger King.

The gap in revenue is explained by breakfast and Happy Meals, Bloomberg Businessweek's Vanessa Wong reports.

"Egg McMuffin is part of the fast-food vocabulary in a way Burger King can't match," Wong writes.

McDonald's has also had more success than Burger King in drawing in younger customers with its Happy Meals.

"McDonald's has the largest share of kids meal sales in the fast-food industry and gets about 10% of total sales from Happy Meals, the most commonly advertised child-oriented fast-food item on television," Wong writes.

Here are two other reasons Wong gives for McDonald's higher revenues:

• McDonald's is faster. The average service time at McDonald's drive-throughs is 189.49 seconds, compared to 198.48 at Burger King. And McDonald's is planning to add a third service window to slash the wait even further.
• McDonald's spends more on marketing. McDonald's spent $787.5 million on advertising in 2012 compared to Burger King's $48.3 million.