Why You'll Never Run Out Of Ways To Customize A Burger King Whopper

Some burger lovers are creatures of habit, as loyal to their favorite toppings as Popeye is to spinach. Others are risk-takers, bravely opting for new flavor combinations with every order. Thankfully, whether you prefer to stick to the "tried and true," or you possess taste buds that are particularly adventurous, the Burger King Whopper always has your back. In fact, with 221,184 ways to enjoy your Whopper, even the most venturesome epicurean will rarely have to endure the same burger twice. 

Yes, you read that right. There are 221,184 ways to "have it your way." How did they arrive at this figure? While it would likely take a mathematical genius to crunch the numbers, it's often explained like this. According to a history of Burger King, each ingredient found within a Burger King Whopper can be assigned a value of 0 or 1, dependent on whether you have opted for said ingredient and "this is raised to the number of possible ingredients which can be feasibly included in the Whopper itself." From that figure, alone, Burger King originally came up with a total of 1,024 variations, but that comparatively modest number was based on just the traditional Whopper. With the advent of a slew of new options over the past few years, this number has increased to the synapse-sizzling 221,184 variations that the chain boasts today. 

Burger King has definitely mastered the art of "thinking outside the box" when it comes to introducing limited-time, and often bizarre, new Whoppers. Many of these special varieties contain ingredients that have never been offered in previous Whoppers. This means that the possible customizations increase with every new variation introduced. 

Besides the usual toppings of ketchup, mayo, and mustard, BK has offered a huge selection of sauces over the years, including the basil pesto and marinara sauces found on the Pizza Whopper, the guacamole on the California Whopper', queso sauce on the burrito-esque Whopperito, and the cheese sauce that smothers the Four-Cheese Whopper. 

Truly, these ingredients have varied from the traditional, like dill pickles, tomatoes, and lettuce, to the downright strange. The Cheetos Four-Cheese Crunch Whopper has — you guessed it — Cheetos, while the Angry Whopper touts jalapeños, and the Franken Whopper is piled high with onion rings and french fries. And there's even the Meat Beast layered with bacon, pepperoni, and ham. The chain has even introduced a host of different buns — some in really weird colors. You could pick the Ghost Whopper's all-white variety, enjoy the chicken-based Nightmare King's neon green bun, or even go for the Halloween Whopper's odd black bun, which horrifyingly turned customers' feces green. 

For its latest menu addition, you can even opt for the meatless burger found in the Impossible Whopper, making the options truly endless.

Why does Burger King put so much effort into continuously changing up the Whopper? The Whopper is, traditionally, the chain's best-selling product. And with stiff competition from McDonald's, Wendy's, Sonic, and others, it stands to reason that BK would want to capitalize on this super-seller as much as possible and keep it fresh and interesting. Plus, it's fun. For instance, who wouldn't be tempted to try an Indiana Jones-inspired Whopper? Or one with a freakish black bun? 

While America's favorite burger toppings remain fairly consistent with cheese, lettuce, ketchup, tomatoes, and onions taking the top five slots, it is nice to know that Burger King is always willing to meet our needs in those times when we crave the familiar — and in those brief moments of thrill-seeking eating madness. So, the next time you find yourself at a Burger King drive-thru and can't decide what to pick, don't blame yourself. There are quite simply too many choices.