National Cheese Burger Day Canada

Rise, Griddle & Glory: A Cheeseburger Day Tribute from Branding & Buzzing

Today is National Cheeseburger Day — a time to celebrate sizzle, cheese melt, juicy patties, and all the ways we’ve helped clients make burgers more than just food: making them culture, conversation, and craveable content.

We love cheeseburgers. And in our years in the branding game, we’ve seen everything: the classic, the experimental, the gourmet, the outrageous — and that’s a lot of flavour to remember.

From 2011: Gourmet Beginnings with Bymark

Back in 2011, when we first started, one of our earliest marquee burger clients was Mark McEwan and his Bymark burger. At the time, it was the gourmet burger in Toronto — everything about it screamed aspiration: the quality of the beef, the toppings, the finesse. And the price matched: $28.

Back then, $28 for a burger was a headline. Now, in 2025, it doesn’t seem all that high at all.

Working on that project taught us early that burger culture isn’t just about the food — it’s about narrative, craftsmanship, and image. It set a bar.

A History of Burgers, Branding & Bold Moments

Over the years, here’s what we’ve seen — and done — when it comes to the almighty burger:

  • We’ve photographed 200+ burgers for major condiment client French’s, crafting visuals with ketchup, mustard, and pickles — burger art in its most delicious form.

  • We watched the rise of the smash burger — thin, crispy edges, fast sear, often with American cheese melting edges-over-bun style.

  • We’ve tasted classics and the crazy — yes, even a ramen burger (bun made of fried ramen noodles, for those unfamiliar) — challenging conventional bread, texture, and burger identity.

  • There was the Great Bun Debate: brioche? potato bun? pretzel? sourdough? Even keto buns have come into the conversation. Because the bun isn’t just function: it frames the whole experience.

Some Memorable Burger Moments

These are the moments that shaped our love (and our marketing muscle) for burgers:

  • Our office used to be on College Street. Sean Beckingham (our in-house burger philosopher) would eat a Rudy’s burger almost every week. “At Rudy’s, I was a regular because it was the perfect smash burger — crispy edges, the best melted cheese, and consistent every single time.”

  • In Winnipeg, we had burgers at the Salisbury House (“The NIP”) as part of media work — burgers in one hand, brand strategy in the other.

  • Doing campaigns with French’s, helping tie classic condiments to burger identity: the ketchup, the mustard, the nostalgia, the bold colour in photography.

  • Countless media dinners: Smoque & Bones, B-Good, and others. Conversations over buns, pairing ideas, taste layering.

  • A fun one: pairing a cheeseburger with a Samuel Adams beer live on Global Morning Show — illustrating not just “eat this,” but “experience this.”

  • We sponsored Burger Week, Had  the Cheese Boutique judge to pick the best cheeses for a cheeseburger, and explored which melts, which sharp, which mild, which quirky.

 

What Makes a Cheeseburger Mighty

Sean Beckingham once said, “A burger is a warm patty served on a bun with or without veggies and condiments.” It’s simple. But it’s everything. Because in that simplicity, there’s room for variation: the beef (or alternative), the cheese, the char, the bun, the freshness of toppings, the sauces.

What elevates a cheeseburger — what we love working on — are those touches that tell a story:

  • The cheese choice: cheddar? American? swiss? blue cheese? Local artisan? Sharp? Mild?

  • The bun: texture, buttered? Toasted? Seeded? Pretzel? Keto alternative?

  • The melt: timing, heat, method. How the cheese pulls, oozes, covers.

  • The “extras”: pickles, onions, special sauces, charred peppers, bacon, caramelized onions — things that surprise.

Why We Celebrate the Cheeseburger

Because it’s democracy in food form. It’s affordable luxury. It’s fast food and fine dining, nostalgia and innovation. It’s community — burgers shared, burgers debated, burgers Instagrammed, burgers tasted.

And because over these years, working with clients, brands, chefs, and photographers, we haven’t just marketed burgers. We’ve helped shape burger stories. We’ve helped brands find their burger identity.

So today, on National Cheeseburger Day, we raise our spatulas (and our cameras) to the mighty cheeseburger — the humble masterpiece of meat-and-melt.

Thank you to our clients who’ve trusted us with burger stories. Thank you to burger lovers everywhere. And one more hearty, gooey, perfect-slice-of-cheese “mmm” from all of us at Branding & Buzzing. Go eat Sean’s Fave

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by RUDY (@rudyresto)

 

Personal favourite Toronto burger for partner Sean Beckingham is the Rudy Burger