Hungry Jack's fires back at McDonald's over Big Jack lawsuit with cheeky new ad

When Hungry Jack's – the Australian equivalent to Burger King – launched its new Big Jack and Mega Jack burgers around a month ago, which were intended to be somewhat of a fresh take on McDonald's famed Big Mac with a tongue-in-cheek name to accompany it, it was perhaps inevitable that Maccas, as it's known Down Under, would take great issue with it.

And so the globally-recognised chain did, with McDonald's filing a lawsuit at the end of August claiming that its key Australian rival 'deliberately adopted or imitated' the appearance and build of the Big Mac, along with its famous tagline listing its ingredients that has been in use since the seventies.

With the Big Mac being marketed using the tagline "two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions – on a sesame seed bun," and Hungry Jack's running with "two flame-grilled 100% Aussie beef patties, topped with melted cheese, special sauce, fresh lettuce, pickles and onions on a toasted sesame seed bun" for the Big Jack, the similarities are certainly pretty clear.

However, always up to the task of putting a bee in Maccas' bonnet, Hungry Jack's hasn't taken the lawsuit lying down, instead using it as an opportunity to stoke the fire.

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After a Hungry Jack's spokesperson told Mumbrella the week after the lawsuit was filed that it was "bemused by the trademark lawsuit filed against it in the Federal Court," and that "it is clearly evident that customers are not confused or misled that the Big Jack and Mega Jack burgers are only available at Hungry Jack’s," the chain has now launched a new ad campaign to make its point even clearer.

"Someone's suing Hungry Jack's. They reckon Aussies are confusing the Big Jack with some American burger, but the Big Jack's clearly bigger with 25 percent more Aussie beef, flame-grilled with a barbecue taste, and you can only get the Big Jack at Hungry Jack's" taunts the voiceover in the TVC which you can watch on Mumbrella's website.

With McDonald's having already demanded Hungry Jack's cease selling the Big Jack and Mega Jack burgers, which the chain has not complied with, the former's lawsuit also seeks damages and the 'destruction of all promotional materials' both physical and digital, along with the revocation of the Big Jack trademark which it claims Hungry Jack's registered "in bad faith" in November 2019.

It's not the first time the two rival chains have come to blows over the Big Mac name, as in early 2019, McDonald's lost the trademark to the name in the EU, prompting Burger King to offer a tongue-in-cheek 'Not Big Mac' range.

Let us know in the comments though – do you think McDonald's is right to challenge Hungry Jack's over its Big Jack burger, or is HJ's point of it 'clearly' being different clear enough?