LAST YEAR, BURGER King Japan introduced black burgers to the world.
This year, it’s the turn of red burgers.
The strange-looking product includes a red bun and red cheese, with either beef or chicken, stuffed alongside salad and a spicy red sauce.
Called the Aka (Red) Samurai, the burgers debuted last week.
While the black burger was coloured by bamboo charcoal, it is tomato powder that is responsible for the new burgers’ hearty hue.
But why does Burger King create such strange products in Japan?
Unsurprisingly, it mainly comes down to drawing attention to the brand on the cheap.
Advertising Age spoke to the fast-food giant’s general manager for business management, Masanori Tasuiwa, who told them that the company “doesn’t have much ad budget in our hands” and doesn’t use creative agencies in Japan.
Essentially, the black and red burgers are ways of drawing attention to the company, often through social media, in a form of fairly cheap advertising.
Plus, it makes people curious, and curiosity tends to draw in customers.
Tasuiwa noted that the idea has also inspired Burger King Singapore and Burger King Malaysia, who have followed Japan and dipped their fingers into the coloured-bun world.
Would you eat the red burger?
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say