After James McLamore and David Edgerton rescued a failing business called Insta-Burger-King, they renamed the company and ran it themselves until 1967, when it was sold to Pillsbury. In attempting to restructure the company, the Pillsbury management appear to have had one goal: to make it as much like McDonalds as possible. To that end, they hired McDonalds executive Donald Smith who, in a plan called Operation Phoenix, standardized restaurant designs, broadened the menu and updated franchise agreements. Smith eventually left to join Pepsi, precipitating a decline in sales that led to the company being sold to Grand Metropolitan, a British entertainment conglomerate, in 1989.