McDonald’s Japan Adds Three New Toppings In ‘Hidden’ Campaign
It’s no secret that McDonald’s Japan has been suffering in the ideas department for quite some time, so now they’re pulling out the big guns. In hopes of boosting sales, the chain is introducing three new burger toppings – jalapenos, cream cheese sauce, and smoked bacon.
The new toppings can be added to any of McDonald’s Japan standard menu items for an additional 40 yen ($0.37 USD) each.
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According to RocketNews24, the new ingredients are being billed as part of a “hidden” campaign, in which customers can customize any of McDonald’s Japan’s standard burger items with up to three toppings for a total of 285 possible “hidden” combinations.
To help customers decide, McDonald’s Japan has chosen to highlight three combinations to promote the new campaign, including the Teriyaki McBurger with sliced jalapenos, the Chicken Filet with a thick cream cheese sauce, and the Double Cheeseburger with savory smoked bacon.
The three new toppings are set to be added to the menu beginning on June 15 and will be available until early July.
In yet another attempt to make up for its losses, last week McDonald’s Japan announced a Willy Wonka-esque photo competition giving customers the chance to win real gold. The photo-based competition was designed to bring attention to one of the most popular items on any McDonald’s menu – French fries.
According to RocketNews24, the campaign, entitled #potetori, which literally translates to the “#potato-taking” campaign, asked customers to replace a serving of fries with unusual items resembling long, yellow potato chips, by using a special app that adds a ready-made McDonald’s French fries carton into the frame.
In order to participate in the competition, customers were required to download the app, snap a witty photo, apply a filter, and share the image on Twitter with the hashtag #???.
Partaking in the French fry photo contest entered customers into a lottery to win a special “Gold McFry Potato” – that’s right folks, golden fries.
Adding to the contest excitement, McDonald’s offered a discount on both large and medium-sized fries at McDonald’s outlets around the country during the competition, which ended on June 7.
Sticking with the gold theme, McDonald’s Japan released an additional McNugget campaign to get people talking.
To win, customers just have to follow McDonald’s on Twitter and keep an eye out for signs of the new “Mysterious Nugget Thief,” who will be dropping clues, evidence, and information on the campaign website and in and around McDonald’s restaurants across the country. Using these hints, customers are asked to guess the nugget thief’s true identity and spread the word by tweeting details of their encounter with the hashtag #??????.
During the campaign, which runs from June 8 to June 28, one Twitter entrant a day will be chosen at random to receive a special book of coupons for 39 days’ worth of free five packs of McNuggets.
According to RocketNews24, the decision to offer 39 packs to each winning customer is the company’s way of extending its thanks, as the Japanese pronunciation of the numbers “3” (san) and “9” (kyu) sound similar to the phrase “Thank you.”
The ultimate contest winner will receive a five-piece packet of chicken nuggets with one piece made from 18 karat gold.
[Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images]
