1977 Burger Chef/Burger King Star Wars Posters Collector Guide

Back in 1977, in the months following the opening of Star Wars, there wasn’t much merchandise to feed the frenzy of millions of new fans. Coca-Cola helped fill that need with a series of four posters available at two major burger chains: Burger King and Burger Chef.

The 18″ x 24″ posters featured fantastic artwork by Del Nichols and were used as a promotional tie-in. The posters were available for free at the fast-food restaurants with the purchase of a Coca-Cola for 49 cents. Four different posters were produced: Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, Chewbacca, and droids R2-D2 and C-3PO. Images are included below. The promotion launched on September 12, 1977.

Surprisingly, the posters aren’t hard to find these days, and are relatively inexpensive compared to other Star Wars posters from the era. They were available rolled, and while there are some variations in the posters themselves, they do not affect the value. Posters are available with either Burger King or Burger Chef markings, and some posters have a white border, while others (like the ones shown above) are full-bleed.

This 1977 commercial advertises the poster offer, and includes Anthony Daniels reprising his role as C-3PO. Keep an eye out for actress Denise Nickerson as the girl at the counter. She is best known for her roles in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and the 1970s soap opera “Dark Shadows.”

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This video features a Burger Chef radio spot for the poster offer.

Here are images of the four posters.

In 2007, the individual who owned the original artwork to the posters posted about them on the Rebelscum.com forum. He stated his father was a Coca Cola executive and had obtained the original artwork the posters were made from. He also said he reached out to George Lucas when he still owned Lucasfilm, asking for his advice on the value. His secretary responded that Lucas believed the artwork was worth about $100,000 for all four pieces, although he declined the owner’s offer to purchase them himself.

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Bruce Hershenson of EMoviePosters.com provided a bit more info on the different versions of the posters and how they were distributed: “There was a set of 4 posters and one of the four deals was distributed through Burger Kings, and at the bottom of each, it said ‘A poster series from The Coca-Cola Company and Burger King,’ and each had ‘Number One of Four,’ etc. The second deal was through another burger chain, now defunct, Burger Chef, and at the bottom of each, it said ‘A poster series from The Coca-Cola Company and Burger Chef Systems Inc.’ The third set was distributed in Japan only, and at the bottom of each of those, it said ‘A poster series from The Coca-Cola Company (Japan).’ The fourth set was distributed in the U.S. by Coca-Cola, it said ‘An original poster series from The Coca-Cola Company.‘

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