COVID-19 Pandemic

3 Months Ended

Mar. 28, 2020

Unusual or Infrequent Items, or Both [Abstract]

COVID-19 Pandemic

COVID-19 Pandemic

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak of COVID-19 as a pandemic. The pandemic had an unfavorable impact on the Company’s business, financial condition, and results of operations for the three months ended March 28, 2020, including temporary closures of restaurants and decreased traffic. In response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Company has taken a series of actions to preserve financial flexibility and support franchisees during this time of uncertainty, including temporarily extending payment terms for royalties and advertising fees for franchisees in the U.S. and Canada from 12 to 45 days through mid-May to provide them with more financial flexibility to better support their employees and guests. In addition, the Company waived up to one month of rental payments and allowed franchisees to defer two months of rent on the approximately 900 properties leased by the Company to franchisees. While it is not possible at this time to estimate the nature and timing of the impact that the pandemic could have on our business due to numerous uncertainties, the continued spread of COVID-19 and the measures taken by local and national governments are expected to continue to disrupt our operations and may also impact supply chain, resulting in an adverse impact on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.