While McDonald's (MCD) is known for having a much more stable menu than fast-food rivals like Yum! Brands (YUM)-owned Taco Bell or even Wendy's (WEN), it still occasionally launches seasonal promotions and products that tie into popular culture.
Most recently, there have been multiple celebrity meals with stars like Saweetie and Travis Scott while the Szechaun Sauce that McDonald's launched in 1998 for the Disney (DIS) movie "Mulan" has reached cult status.
But for truly original stuff, one has only to look at fast-food franchises in other countries. McDonald's Japan, in particular, has had everything from the Samurai Mac with teriyaki sauce to the "I Feel LIke I Went To New York" square burgers.
McDonald's Moon Viewing Burger
The latest item to drop at McDonald's Japan is called the "Tsukimi" burger. Named after the annual moon viewing festival taking place in Japan throughout the fall, it comes with a beef patty, a slice of bacon and a round fried egg meant to represent the moon.
From photos first shared by a local Japanese English-language news site, the burger buns also appear slightly rounder than the traditional ones.
The entire thing is also topped off with a creamy-sweet tomato sauce.
The burger is also part of a larger "moon viewing" menu that includes a breakfast muffin with the same egg and tomato sauce, a sweet potato McShake and a "Feels Like Autumn" McFlurry with chestnut paste.
The "Tsukimi Pie," whose mochi and red bean paste-filled interior became a viral hit when McDonald's Japan launched it for last year's moon festival menu, is also back this year.
The Tsukimi Festival dates back more than 1,000 years as a time to watch the moon and express gratitude for the coming harvest. It begins on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month (typically in September) and is usually an elaborate affair during which families across Japan decorate their homes, hold parties to watch the autumn moon and eat a number of traditional and ceremonial foods.
While McDonald's can hardly be called traditional Japanese fare, its Japanese franchise has been launching a special tsukimi menu for a number of years now. Items like the tsukimi burger and the sweet potato shake come back regularly while a nuggets sauce made with bonito stock, shichimi spice and yuzu citrus as well as the chestnut Tsukimi McFlurry are new this year.
McDonald's Japan/TS
Japanese franchises of Yum! Brands' KFC and Burger King of Restaurant Brands International QSR also launched their own Tsukimi menus.
The Significance Of Seasonal Menus
Seasonal menus are, for fast-food companies, a way to not only test more adventurous products that would have otherwise not made the regular menu but also reinsert themselves into customers' minds every couple of months.
Particularly for holidays as beloved as the Tsukimi Festival, seasonal menus also help reach a customer who would not otherwise eat at the chain but becomes intrigued by the tie-in.
While McDonald's in the U.S. and the UK have experimented with a few Christmas items, the chain's franchises in Asia are where one needs to look for truly stellar seasonal menus.
Every year, McDonald's China launches a line of hamburgers, chicken sandwiches and desserts for the Lunar New Year.
