The Gross Burger King Menu Item That Was Only Available For A Limited Time
If you go to your local Burger King, chances are high that if you order a Whopper, you'll get ... a Whopper. You'll just get an average, everyday, run-of-the-mill Whopper sandwich just like everyone else. No whipped cream, no fried fish, no chocolate sauce for dipping, just your plain old lettuce, tomatoes, and cheese.
Burger King, for its part, has had some strange menu items in the past. Back in 2015, Burger King celebrated Halloween by releasing a Whopper with a bun that was dyed completely black, something that not only seemed to be a very unconventional Halloween treat but one that also had a particularly disgusting side-effect on those who ate it (via CBS News). In 2019, the chain decided to market to consumers suffering from depression or apathy with its "Real Meals," meals that took the concept of McDonald's "Happy Meals" and turned it into something decidedly more cynical. According to USA Today, customers could choose bundle meals with names like the "Salty Meal" or the "DGAF Meal." Needless to say, it wasn't as well-received as Burger King hoped it would.
Over in Germany, however, Burger King seemed to toss the very idea of conventional (or even edible) food right out the window. Gizmodo describes Whoppers topped in whipped cream, ice cream, and olives, slabs of fried herring mixed with currywurst, and the appetizing raspberry torte piled high with beef. So what exactly was going on over in good old Deutschland? Was this simply for shock value or for something else?
The bizarre foods were part of a campaign for pregnant mothers
Before you think that German Burger King must surely be a Willy Wonka-esque funhouse of desserts and burgers smashed together, you'd be happy to know that these shocking items aren't regular menu items. Instead, according to Brand Eating, it was part of a campaign marketed toward expecting mothers who may have the occasional pregnancy craving. Burger King actually ran a poll to see what types of cravings and other odd food combinations are the most popular and, perhaps in an act of standing with pregnant women or a rather outrageous marketing scheme, released the most popular cravings as specially-made Whoppers.
According to Twisted, the burgers were available for only one day at one select location in Berlin, where reactions were supposedly met with surprising acceptance. After all, if pregnant women do crave fish sticks and applesauce on their burgers, why not give it to them? Most users online, however, came under the impression that Burger King sold these items year-round, poking fun at the admittedly odd Whoppers in the belief that this is what German fast-food lovers actually dined on.
It's not the first time fast food has focused on expecting mothers. McDonald's in Sydney released a commercial in 2020 featuring a daughter revealing to her mother that she is pregnant by eating McDonald's soft serve with pickles (via Adweek). Heartwarming? Some may say so. Strange? Others may agree. It's certainly not like people haven't had stranger food cravings before.