These days Burger King (QSR) really is earning its name, especially when it comes to taking wacky, wildly creative chances in the fast food market.
It's created some truly bizarre products worldwide in its efforts to innovate and stand out from the pack, including its one pound King Yeti burger and its Big Mouth line. It's worth noting that both sandwiches are easily larger than the average human mouth, which is the kind of thing food vloggers making their living on YouTube simply go bananas for.
One of its efforts from 2020 was such a hit, in fact, that it's returned for an encore performance. But unlike the typical fast-food presentation of a perfectly-styled burger glistening with layers of crisp lettuce and thick-cut tomatoes and topped with a too-smooth bun of buttery perfection, this one is more ... personality-driven, shall we say?
Burger King/JS
Why Ugly is Beautiful in Burger King's Eyes
The Ugly burger made its debut in Japan in September 2020. It looked like a fairly straightforward loaded cheeseburger at first, except for one thing: The bun had a bumpy, burned-looking appearance both top and bottom, almost as if it had been burned under a heat lamp.
Technically, that description wasn't wrong, because what was melted onto the bun was cheese. Multiple cheeses, in fact, including gouda, egmont, mozzarella, and cheddar (and that's in addition to the cheese that's already in the sandwich itself).
And while it certainly didn't look attractive, food bloggers praised the flavor and flocked to their local BKs to buy these hideous creations. Soon enough new versions were spawned, including chili, shrimp, and chicken (the latter earned the memorable name "Chicken De Ugly.")
The chain's most recent addition is a habanero version, which it debuted in early February. So if you're a fan of eating terrible-looking food that will also most certainly try to kill you, this one is for you.
Ranging from 650 to 790 yen ($5.61-$6.82 U.S.), this take on the Ugly sandwich has a very limited run, much like the others in the line. But if history is to be trusted, there will be others.
Burger King's strategy: Play on FOMO
The fast-food chain is definitely executing its version of a well-known concept: Make the release of each sandwich seem like an exclusive event that fans have to hurry to get.
And with many of these eats available for only a month at a time, that's exactly what they're aiming to do. It's all the better for someone to try to go get the latest burger, only to be told it's already gone. If the plan works, the customer experiences the burn of regret, followed by the determination to get in on the next exclusive drop.
But the Japanese fast-food market is also heavily dominated by McDonald's. Burger King is marketed as a niche alternative there, and it captures a much, much smaller market.
For instance, McDonald's Japan has 4.4 million followers on Twitter, while Burger King Japan only has 127,600. BK really can't compete with numbers on that scale. So instead, it seems to be having fun coming up with wildly creative ideas to serve to its customers, like stuffing chicken nuggets with cheddar cheese, which sounds like an absolute delight.
