 The regional licensing model remained in place until 1978 when the company hired McDonald 's executive Donald N. Smith to help revamp the company . Smith initiated a restructuring of all future franchising agreements , disallowing new owners from living more than an hour 's drive from their restaurants , preventing corporations from owning franchises and prohibiting franchisees from operating other chains . This new policy effectively limited the size of franchisees and prevented larger franchises from challenging Burger King as Chart House had . Smith also altered the way the company dealt with new properties by making the company the primary owner of new locations and rent or lease the restaurants to its franchises . This policy would allow the company to take over the operations of failing stores or evict those owners who would not conform to the company guidelines and policies . However , by 1988 Burger King parent Pillsbury had relaxed many of Smith 's changes , scaled back on construction of new locations and stalling growth . When Pillsbury was acquired in 1989 by Grand Metropolitan , the company fell further into decline , a pattern which continued under Grand Met successor Diageo . This institutionalized neglect further hurt the standing of the brand , in turn causing significant financial damage to Burger King 's franchises . 
