Burger King's New 'Fake Burger' Has People Talking

Burger King restaurants around the world are always coming up with new items to appeal to local palates or to try something outside the same old hamburger routine. Take for example the halloumi burger, with the Greek cheese instead of meat, which the UK got this year (via the Mirror). Several years back, BK reintroduced its Yumbo, a ham and cheese sandwich on a hoagie roll (via Brand Eating). Now Burger King has something new for its customers in Japan, coming out this Friday, October 23.

Dubbed the "Fake Burger," the new menu item is raising a lot of questions. The image that comes with Burger King Japan's promotion of the new item on Twitter shows two buns and a censored, pixellated space in between. The burger is available for two weeks only at a price of 290 yen, or about $2.77. A regular Whopper in Japan sells for 360 yen, so the mystery burger is a relative bargain (via SoraNews24).

Burger King isn't revealing what's in the burger yet. Hopefully it'll let customers know by the time they get to the restaurant on Friday to order it. A company press release, translated from Japanese by Hypebeast, promises the Fake Burger will be good, whatever it is: "[We] can't tell you the details of the taste and contents yet, but once you eat it, you will definitely be addicted to its deliciousness."

While the word "fake" usually conjures images of vegan or vegetarian burgers, given the burger's low price and Japanese tastes, the best guess out there so far is that the Fake Burger is an egg burger (via SoraNews24). The promotional poster, in Japanese, says the item is "warm, fluffy, and delicious," so an egg-based item would make sense. People in Japan consume more eggs per capita than in any other nation in the world, according to World Atlas, with McDonald's being one brand that has already appealed to Japan's love of eggs earlier this fall with a Gold Moon burger: beef patty, cheddar cheese, bacon, and a sunny-side-up egg on top (via Hypebeast).

Burger King Japan hasn't been afraid of pushing the boundaries with limited-time burger offers. Recent specialty burgers have included the Monster Baby, which had a chicken patty and a pork patty (via Chew Boom), and the Shrimp Whopper (via Insider).