Tokyo! Probably the greatest city in the world for sushi, right?
Sure, But Tokyo Has Great Spam Burgers Too!
In a world where advertising is everything, how can you resist a colorful and delicious burger like this?
I love Tokyo, everyone knows that. And I love the food, especially incredibly fresh sushi like this from the Tsukiji fish market:
I ate sushi in several of the food stalls that ring the fish market, serving the freshest fish at 6a – yes, I love sushi for breakfast! Even though no one speaks a word of english, I sat down and managed to enjoy incredible yellowtail and uni first thing in the morning…
Even better, I loved wandering through the fish market, where negotiations were underway for some of the most beautiful tuna I had ever seen…
And signs were everywhere offering up an endless array of fish and sushi – but since I couldn’t understand any of it, I just had to point and pray…and it always worked out well for me…
Tokyo’s Food Ads!
I love how colorful the ad are in Japan, even if I had no idea what they said, you could tell what they were selling! And these great ads weren’t limited to just sushi…that’s right, the japanese ads for fast food hamburgers are even better!
I honestly don’t know if it’s the uniquely beautiful lettering, or the combination of japanese characters and food together, but I see ads like these and they make me hungry…
This is, without a doubt, colorful and compelling imagery – speaking the universal language of BURGER…
And as usual for Japan, even a hamburger can run off into new and – shall we say UNIQUE – directions on a moment’s notice!
Sure, I’d eat a spaghetti burger if it had cool japanese writing underneath it – wouldn’t you? You may recognize some of these ads – since I have written about the magnificent Japanese hamburger chain Lotteria, which offers up many unique burgers for Tokyo meat lovers…
Tokyo’s Amazing “Build-A-Burger”!!
Here is the greatest ad for a Lotteria burger – a burger that allows YOU to build your own burger!
Here’s the deal: Lotteria’s offering a burger that allows customers to add their own extra fixings to their burger. The ad above offers up quite the tower of great ingredients…of course, our friends at RocketNews24 got something a bit more, well, NORMAL when they ordered one…
It’s “The Zennose!”
Still, the PROMISE of the ad is inspiring – this new Lotteria burger is called “the zennose”:
According to RocketNews24, “when the chain started hanging posters in its restaurants showing something called the “zennose” burger (literally the burger with everything on it), even some employees weren’t entirely sure Lotteria was serious. ‘This isn’t really an official menu item. It’s just something we could make if customers asked us to,’ one worker commented.”
So, what if you ordered the “Zennose”? Well, here is what you would get:
Regular beef patty
Additional patty with cheese
Shrimp cutlet
Rib patty
Bacon
Sliced cheese
Spicy mayonnaise
Regular mayonnaise
Tartar sauce
Ketchup
Teriyaki sauce
One egg, soft-boiled
Cabbage
Lettuce
Pickles
Yep, that is one stacked burger!
And of course, let’s not forget this classic from the folks at Lotteria:
Yep, it’s an “Osaka Burger!” Read all about this pink-sauced delight by clicking on my story here:
It’s one of many burger monstrosities I have written about – and when it comes to Lotteria, the word “monstrosity” is a compliment – I LOVE what they do to burgers!
I mean, they are the ones who started the ramen burger craze…read all about that right here:
And of course, you have to go to Japan if you want to bite down hard on this:
I LOVE THAT AD! Congrats once again to Lotteria for keeping our burgers stacked high!
Yes, the folks at Lotteria love to make outrageous burgers, and they love outrageous ads as well – like this one for their “Wild Burger!”
Not to be outdone, the folks at McDonald’s have done some wacky things worldwide when it comes to advertising their food, such as:
The McKroket!
That’s right: in The Netherlands, you can get a burger that swaps out the beef patty for a ground beef and potato croquette, with tartar sauce spread on top….rejoice!
And how about France:
The CroqueMcDo!
Their version of a croque monsieur, melted cheese and bread and meat…sacre bleu!
And of course, here is the greatest ad of all time for McDonald’s all-singing, all-dancing ode to:
The McDLT!
That’s right, the infamous ad that promised a burger concoction that would keep “the hot side hot, the cold side cold!”
You can see the classic ad with Jason Alexander by clicking here:
http://johnrieber.com/2012/08/29/singing-about-burgers-hot-v-cold-jason-alexanders-mcdlt-blues/
I might just watch it while biting down on a Lotteria of my own creation!
And of course, I also posted this picture of my daughter Jessica and her reaction to a burger ad we saw on the streets of Tokyo:
