Burger King accelerates release of $5 value meal to outdo upcoming McDonald's deal

Another fighter has entered the ring in the fast food value wars.

Fast food giants like McDonald's and Wendy's are racing to win customers back with cheap deals after skyrocketing prices turned consumers away. Last week, Bloomberg reported McDonald's plans to release a $5 meal deal to attract more buyers after lackluster foot traffic in the first quarter.

Enter Burger King, one of Ronald McDonald's biggest competitors. According to an internal memo reviewed by Bloomberg, BK has plans in motion not only to launch its own $5 meal deal but to do so before the McDonald's campaign, which is reportedly set for late June.

"Burger King is accelerating its value offers after three quarters of leading the industry in value traffic. We are bringing back our $5 Your Way Meal as agreed upon with our franchisees back in April," Burger King said in a statement to USA TODAY.

The Burger King deal, called the $5 Your Way Meal, will include a choice between three sandwiches in addition to chicken nuggets, fries and a drink. The value meal is also slated to stick around for "several months," versus four weeks at McDonald's, Burger King confirmed in an email to USA TODAY.

“Regardless of their plans, we are moving full speed ahead with our own plans to launch our own $5 value meal before they do − and run it for several months,” said the memo, sent by Burger King's U.S. and Canada President Tom Curtis, reported Bloomberg. Burger King confirmed this statement with USA TODAY.

Wendy's adds breakfast items: Sausage burrito, English muffin sandwich

Fast food deals aplenty

Value meals, promotions and freebies have been the name of the game for several fast food and fast-casual chains as of late as they vie for customer attention and dollars.

Recently, Wendy's announced a $3 breakfast combo, which includes an English muffin sandwich with egg, cheese, and bacon or sausage, and a side of seasoned potatoes. This is on top of weekly free chicken nugget deals through the Wendy's app and limited promotions, like a one-cent Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger from May 28 through June 2 for National Hamburger Day.

Besides the upcoming $5 meal, McDonald's offered their own free nugget promotion earlier this week, another in a long line of in-app exclusives that encourage users to sign up for a rewards account to receive a litany of promos and sales.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Burger King $5 value meal: Chain accelerates deal to jump McDonald's