There's typically only one time of year that people are okay with eating what could be deemed as "scary food."
That's Halloween, when going to a party and finding edible "witch fingers" on a buffet table would not be out of the ordinary.
But that trend has outgrown the holiday a little in the form of food challenges, where things served are a different variety of horrifying. Think burgers with too many patties, pizzas 122 feet wide, and bowls of ramen piled so high with ingredients they form a pyramid.
Speaking of scary foods, there are times when fast food restaurants do put them on the menu, such as Burger King's well-publicized Kuro Burger for the Japanese market, which had a black bun and black cheese to match (both dyed with bamboo charcoal).
Now Restaurant Business International's (QSR) long-running burger chain has decided it's time for another scary burger for a special collaboration it's doing with video game developer Activision Blizzard (ATVI).
What's Burger King's Newest Burger?
Burger King is doing an ongoing promotion in Japan for the upcoming release of "Diablo 4," the next main entry in the action role-playing franchise Activision Blizzard (which was just Blizzard back then, before Activision bought it) debuted in 1996.
The chain is offering three new Whoppers named after three characters in the new game: The Diablo, the Butcher, and the Lilith. The Diablo is a garlic double cheeseburger with four slices of cheese, while the Butcher has both a beef and a fried chicken patty. The Lilith, the newest of the bunch, is a double cheeseburger with four slices of cheese and a spicy tomato sauce.
Burger King has also stepped up the promotion with a contest, giving away free food over a four-day period. However, one lucky person will win a "Diablo 4"-branded Lenovo Legion 570i laptop.
Why Not in the U.S.?
It's interesting that Burger King chose to launch this promotion in Japan as Activision Blizzard's biggest player base is in the United States, where a lot of longtime fans of the "Diablo" series would have been thrilled to eat a burger with devilish branding.
However, those aware of Japan's preference for video games made in its own country will understand why Activision Blizzard opted for this collaboration.
American-made video games typically struggle in the Japanese market, which is the country where video games primarily originated. Microsoft has historically struggled to drum up interest in the Xbox in Japan, although it has seen more success in the country with more recent iterations of the console.
The "Diablo" franchise typically hasn't made a big impact in Japan, but since Burger King is a popular brand there, Activision Blizzard likely hopes to capitalize on that and get the new game in front of as many eyes as possible -- sweetening the deal with a nice laptop giveaway.
