A lot has changed since the movie "Super Size Me" came out in 2004 but, at least when it comes to fast food, big is clearly still in style — from the 1,686-calorie XXXL Triple Kingburger from Fatburger to four-patty, six-slice sandwich available at Burger King Japan.
And, extreme food culture has also become a thing. People like to watch "influencers," or maybe just people looking for attention eat crazy things on the internet. That could be something especially big or maybe something really, really hot.
In addition, people love seeing someone eat things that are especially gross or with ingredients that don't go together. These are trends that one major chain has combined and leaned in to.
34 Toppings On A Single Pie:
And in keeping with that theme, the latest pizza from Domino's (DPZ) in Japan seems like more of a dare than something you'd actually want to eat. The Best 34 Toppings Pizza is, you guessed it, a single crust with 34 toppings.
The toppings range from the obvious (tomato sauce, pepperoni, basil) to the interesting (Hokkaido camembert, seafood mix, potato) and are all piled onto a single pie.
There are 10 meat-based toppings alone alongside different veggies and sauces — in some of the press photos released online, the crust looks like it's giving in to the weight of all the toppings piled atop it.
The pizza caught the attention of English-speaking social media on Twitter (TWTR) earlier this week as many started counting off the different toppings. The cost is 2750 yen, or roughly $24.
"I think Domino’s is cheating a bit," writes @koisarukady. "(seriously, ‘pepperoni’ and ‘large pepperoni’ as 2 different toppings? Get outta here.)"
Why Do Fast Food Chains Keep Doing This?
While America is the land of the original supersizing, more and more of these "extra-large" fast food have lately been coming out of Asia.
In Japan, Restaurant Brands International (QSR)-owned Burger King released both the King Yeti Super One Pound (four beef patties and six slices of Gouda cheese) and the Tokyo Teriyaki Tower Burger (also four patties but doused in teriyaki sauce)
Wondering who has the stomach space for such food (and why fast food chains keep releasing them)?
The answer may have more to do with hype and marketing than actual sales — internet virality of the sort that occurred when McDonald's (MCD) China released a limited-edition Cilantro Sundae gets people talking about the company as fast food chains are tying themselves in knots to set themselves apart from competitors.
Domino's Japan
When it comes to the "Best 34," Domino's has yet to achieve the same kind of internet buzz as the Cilantro Sundae, although some did do the math on what is the right amount of toppings.
"Thirty four toppings on it," wrote @OsakaJack. "Really, just 8-9 toppings per quarter, but that's still way too many."
