Burger King Could Be Bringing Back Its Famous Crown-Shaped Nuggets
Everybody has a favorite chicken nugget shape. You may be a lover of dino nuggets, and have a particular fondness for the stegosaurus or the triceratops. You could be partial to White Castle's chicken rings. Or maybe you're a McDonald's loyalist, a steadfast fan of the chain's scientifically engineered bell, ball, boot, and bone-shaped McNuggets (via Mental Floss). There's one shape that your memory may have neglected — because it's been absent from fast food menus for 10 years.
It's Burger King's crown-shaped chicken nuggets, the chain's regally formed white-meat chicken pieces fried in a "homestyle-seasoned" breading (via Chew Boom). The three-pronged bites diversified the fast food nugget array from 2006 to 2011, when they were unexpectedly discontinued to the chagrin of consumers. Now they're back, but only for a limited-time test run at 25 Burger King locations in the Miami area, Chew Boom reports. Enjoy them for $1.49 per 10-piece order while you can, or "stay tuned for additional information about a potential nationwide launch," BK told CNN.
What Burger King fans thought about its crown-shaped nuggets
Some customers were devastated by Burger King's discontinuation of the crown-shaped nuggets; one fan even started a Change.org petition begging for the chain to bring them back. It's unclear whether the petition, which collected nearly 2,300 signatures over three years at the time of publication, inspired Burger King to conduct its Miami area test run. The chain's sales have lagged in recent years, so CNN speculates this could be an attempt to boost sales with a refreshed nugget shape like McDonald's did with spicy nuggets.
Bringing back crown-shaped nuggets could also be Burger King's attempt to appeal to their fans' nostalgia. Earlier this year, the chain unveiled a "retro" new logo and employee uniforms that nod to its branding from 1969-1999, CNN points out. Similarly, many signees of the Change.org petition use words like "nostalgia" and "childhood" to describe their love for crown nuggets. Others insist that it's not just the shape, but also the flavor of the nuggets that are superior to their blob-shaped relatives.
And as one signee puts it: "I adore chicken nuggets and I need to feel like royalty when I eat them."