The Weirdest Whoppers In Burger King History

After noticing that one of its brand new locations was devoid of customers, while a neighboring hamburger joint was packing them in thanks to its delicious, mammoth burgers, the Burger King co-founders David Edgerton and James McLamore decided to think big with a new kind of burger. In his memoir, "The Burger King," McLamore said, "I suggested that we call our product a 'Whopper' knowing that this would convey imagery of BIG."

What first sold for a mere $0.37 in 1957 now is the signature menu item that is sold globally in over 100 countries. In its home country and abroad, The Whopper has never rested on its laurels, always looking to introduce fun flavors and create a lot of buzz with new variations, and even colors of it. A lot of these takes on The Whopper are home runs, and yet many are just straight up bizarre. Let's take a spin around the globe and explore which Whoppers are the weirdest of the weird in the chain's long reign.

Whoppers usually make eaters happy, but in 2009, Burger King made an "Angry" one. In 2016, the Angry Whopper got a sequel in the form of the Angriest Whopper. While this new take featured many of the same ingredients as the original, like jalapeños, fried onions, and spicy angry sauce, it amped up the heat by injecting its bun with even more hot sauce.

A year removed from its introducing its first colored bun — black — Burger King played up this new Whopper's spicy presentation by sandwiching it between two bright red sesame buns. While there have been many questionable colorful Whopper buns since, none may be as unnerving as the Angriest Whopper. Eaters thought that, despite the hype, it wasn't actually all that spicy, although pop culture enthusiast Dinosaur Dracula noted, "I thought I'd be eating the Angriest Whopper just for its mutant historical value, but it's seriously one of the best fast food burgers I've had."

If you're a fan of Burger King living in Japan, black happens to be a bun color that appears in stores now and again. One of the first was 2012's Kuro Ninja Whopper, which included a hash brown, chaliapin sauce, and a long slab of bacon that made it look like a tongue sticking out. The buns were made with bamboo charcoal, and in later Kuro burgers iterations, like the Pearl and Diamond, the cheese was blackened utilizing the same ingredient.

Burger King Thailand got in on the fun in 2021 when it tapped the K-Pop group BLACKPINK for inspiration to release not only a Black burger, but a Pink Salmon one, too. The black buns finally debuted at U.S. Burger Kings when the A.1. Steakhouse infused Halloween Whopper dropped in 2015. Chief Marketing Officer Eric Hirschhorn said in a press release at the time, "It may look Japanese, but it tastes like America."

Whoppers are a well known malted chocolate candy, but in 2018, Burger King had the world shaking its head at the very thought of an actual Chocolate Whopper. This one featured a chocolate cake bun, chocolate patty, raspberry syrup, white chocolate rings, candied blood oranges, milk chocolate leaves, and vanilla frosting. Turns out, it was just another great April Fools Joke.

In 2021, Burger King Singapore turned this Chocolate Whopper into a reality, posting on Facebook, "The King is adding decadent chocolate sauce to our famous WHOPPER, and it is NOT a joke. A savoury-sweet novelty for those who dare." One brave eater from Mothership took up the cause, noting, "the thought of chocolate in a burger made me want to empty the contents of my stomach into a trash can." The resulting taste test revealed the chocolate removed any beefiness flavor of the burger, and it ultimately was a Whopper that wasn't great nor awful.

Wisconsin is a state renowned for its cheese, and love of its Green Bay Packers football squad. Some fans even take to wearing wedges of foam cheese on their heads to cheer them on, and are called "Cheeseheads." That was the target market for 2018's limited run Green Bay Whopper, which came with the usual Whopper trimmings, but eight, yes eight, slices of cheese.

The Green Bay Whopper was available at only six locations, two in Green Bay proper, a duo in De Pere, and one each in Ashwaubenon and Howard, and cost a mere $4.95. It lasted a short while in stores, from November 25 through December 2, and that week's stretch turned out to be a tough one for Packers fans, as they suffered two loses during that span. For those who tried The Green Bay Whopper, some couldn't finish it, while others swore "never again."

Rice is a staple of the Asian diet, and for Japanese chain MOS Burger, they merged this staple with its signature patty in 1987 to create the MOS Rice Burger. Burger King Japan finally gave something similar a try... 37 years later. In collaboration with Kyoto's rice vendor, Hachidaime Gihey Co, it released the Kyoto Whopper in November of 2024.

In addition to a flame-grilled patty, it also had a rice one below it, mixing in both white and brown rice. It was further garnished with lettuce, tomato, onion, and a special Japanese-style ginger sauce. That sauce was multifaceted, consisting of a dashi soy sauce that leans on bonito, mackerel shavings, shiitake mushrooms, and kelp, and further spiced up with the help of roasted chili pepper, Japanese pepper, ginger, and dried citrus peel. In a press release, Burger King Japan said, "This burger brings together tradition, flavor, and expert craftsmanship, allowing you to fully enjoy the delicious combination of meat and rice."

In 1985, Burger King gave a Pizza Cheeseburger a test run, complete with gooey mozzarella cheese and a smattering of marinara sauce. It would take a quarter of a century for Burger King to give such an idea another whirl. By 2010, Burger King had eight Whopper Bars around the globe, with a menu offering fantastical and exotic burgers. It chose its Times Square New York flagship one to launch one of its more mammoth offerings — the N.Y. Pizza Burger.

This was not a burger for one, but cut into slices with the intention of being shared. This "pizza" was a 9 ½-inch sesame bun that housed patties, mozzarella, marinara sauce, a Tuscan pesto mayo sauce, and toppings like pepperoni.  While the response wasn't exactly ecstatic, Burger King did push its N.Y. Pizza Burger beyond its hometown. In 2011, just in time for the holidays, Japan offered up the N.Y. Pizza Burger, with such topping options as fresh avocado or cheese nacho.

On May 8, 2022, mothers and pregnant people received a free Whopper in honor of Mother's Day. For this special day, it wasn't just ordinary Whoppers, but ones that played up traditional pregnancy cravings called Die Schwangerschafts-Whopper (The Pregnancy Whopper). On the Burger King Germany's website, it noted, roughly translated to "Whether sweet, salty or both together — no expectant mother has to feel alone if she feels like there are very special food combinations."

Nine different Pregnancy Whoppers were available at a single location at Tempelhofer Damm in Berlin, and they sounded just as wild as their German names indicated: Spiegelei & Banane, Bratwurst & Nuss-Nougat-Creme, Currywurst & Brathering, Fischstäbchen & Apfelmus, Gurke & Marmelade, Erdbeereis & Pommes, Sahne & Gewürzgurken, Torte & Beef, and Vanilleeise & Oliven. It's kind of unfair that this only existed for a single day, as it would be fun to try any of these flavor combinations, with toppings such as eggs, apple sauce, bananas, strawberry ice cream, and green olives living on top of a burger.

To celebrate Pride Month in June 2022, Burger King Austria took a stand for 19 days by serving Der Pride Whopper. It was essentially a standard Whopper, but with the option of two identical tops or bottom buns to serve as the sandwich's bookends. Chief Marketing OfficerJan-Christoph Küster said in a press release, "Our products should be just as diverse as our employees and customers love and live. A small twist with hopefully a big impact. Because not only he, but he/she/it is King."

While American Whoppers had been previously wrapped with rainbow packaging, it never went as bold as the ones in Austria did in 2022. Regardless, these moves have received backlash from both the community it was aiming to honor, and to those outside of the community who would rather keep politics away from their food. The ad agency behind the Austrian one, JvM Donau, even had to issue a statement on LinkedIn, saying, "Our strongest concern is if we offended members of the LGBTQ Community with this campaign. If this is the case, we truly apologize."

The Green Bay Whopper's eight slices of cheese seemed rather absurd, but the chain's Thailand outpost seemed to challenge customers' limits in 2023 with its Real Cheeseburger. This burger made eight slices sound like a menial amount by containing a whopping 20 slices. The real trick to this treat is that there was nothing else joining those slices, no burger patty, veggies, or condiments.

The Real Cheeseburger was briefly available to order in stores in the summer of 2023. While a regular Whopper at the time cost 380 baht, Burger King discounted this novelty one to only 109 baht. Some customers took this idea to even newer heights, with one ordering up a "burger" with a tower of 100 slices. Chayoot Wana, a Thai economist and professor, saw it as a better deal than what one could get at the grocery store, telling The New York Times, "I might consider buying that burger and keeping the cheese slices," adding, "it would be a better value for the money, and I could make more dishes."

Shrimp sounds like an odd item to wash ashore at a Burger King, but in the early 1990s, a basket of fried ones were one of the options available for its failed Table Service and Dinner Meal program. However, at Burger Kings overseas, shrimp isn't foreign to its menus, and can even be found topping a Whopper's patty.

At Burger King South Korea, shrimp offerings have included a Garlic Shrimp Whopper, Tong Shrimp Crab Burger, and even Shrimp Chicken Fries. In China, shrimp has topped Whoppers, angus patties, and even grilled chicken. Red Shrimp Rings have also been available there as a side order. Japan has had its fair share of interesting crustacean concoctions, allowing fans to gobble up Whoppers by the names of Shrimp Tartar, Shrimp Cocktail, and the regional sounding Garlic Texas and Thai-inspired Tom Yom Shrimp ones. It has also mixed and matched shrimp with bacon and BBQ sauce.

For the winter, the surprises usually come when gifts are unwrapped on holiday mornings. In 2010, Burger King U.K. looked to shock eaters when it introduced the Sprout Surprise Whopper, which was only available from December 20 through Christmas Eve. Atop a burger patty sat another patty, but one consisting of sprout puree, Emmental cheese, and herb crumbs. In a statement to AdWeek, Burger King U.K.'s culinary development manager, Paul Rowland said, "We believe that taste is king, and as such, we wanted to create a recipe that would challenge existing sprout perceptions, and genuinely make sprouts a flavor to be reckoned with."

The announcement was met with cynicism that the chain had to reassure potential eaters of its bona fides. On Facebook, Burger King said, "Sorry to hear some of you weren't too keen on the idea of the Sprout Surprise Whopper yesterday, but we're confident that The King can make even Brussels Sprouts taste good!"

In 165 B.C.E., the Maccabees defended the Jewish Temple from invaders, and in a miracle, a small amount of oil lit candles for eight straight nights. The Festival of Lights, Hanukkah, was born out of this, and many fried in oil sweet and savory dishes are eaten every year to celebrate.

In 2016, Burger King Israel joined the celebration, and while latkes seemed like an easy choice to be added to the menu, instead, it turned to the jelly doughnut-like sufganiyot for inspiration. For eight nights, the SufganiKing reigned, where a Whopper had its standard issue buns replaced by sufganiyah. In lieu of a jelly filling, the sufganiyot housed a dollop of ketchup. In a statement to Ynetnews, Israeli Burger King CEO Steve ben Shimol said "this matching of two popular Israeli food items was inevitable for us. We're proud to be able to end 2016 on a creative, festive note." The SufganiKing not only became a much buzzed about item, but netted Burger King Israel's bestselling month in its history.

"Stranger Things" had been a phenomenon for the streaming giant Netflix ever since it debuted in 2016. It follows a set of bestie teens trying to navigate normal life, as well as the alternate dimension known as The Upside Down. Burger King is no stranger to movie and T.V. tie-ins, and in 2019, it teamed up with Netflix's "Stranger Things" for a not so normal menu item called The Upside Down Whopper to help kick off season 3.

There was actually nothing new added or subtracted from a Whopper to make this new one. It was simply delivered to the customer upside down, and housed in a special square black box. To honor its protagonist Eleven, it was only sold at that exact number of locations, there were also ketchup packets embossed with an outline of that heroine's proboscis, so when torn, it would simulate her infamous nosebleeds. Added fun included paper Burger King crowns that borrow the fashionable look of Dustin's red, white, and blue signature hat.

With the rise of fast casual burritos chains like Chipotle, Burger King decided to spice things up by turning a burger into a wrap, and giving it a fun name. The result was The Whopperito, which consisted of taco seasoned beef, a queso cheese sauce, and familiar toppings like lettuce, pickle, onion and tomato, rolled up into a soft tortilla. Burger King North America President Alex Macedo said in a statement, "The Whopperrito is a new interpretation of the Tex-Mex trend in a way that only Burger King restaurants could imagine."

After a successful test run in a few Texas, Ohio, and Pennsylvania locations in June 2016, it was ready for a nationwide launch that August. Headlines like Newsweek's "Burger King's New Whopperito Is as Disgusting as It Looks" didn't help to sell it to a suspicious public, and not long after the chain called "it's a wrap" on its new invention. Burger King has since returned to the wrap game with chicken, and yet fans aren't really shouting, "where's the beef?"

After a long reign as a monarch of beef patties, Burger King attempted to do the same with the tubular American classic — the hot dog. After a trial run in five test markets, the chain went nationwide with the Grilled Dogs line in 2016. Alex Macedo, president of Burger King North America, told the Associated Press, "This is probably the most obvious product launch ever."

The all-beef dogs were supplied by sister company Heinz Kraft, and internal training videos starred Snoop Dog and Charo demonstrating how they were to be topped after grilling. Initially they came in two options — a standard dog with ketchup, mustard, onion, and relish, and a chili cheese one. By May, a new option was added — The Whopper Dog, which included tomatoes and pickles. Grilled dogs hung around menus into 2017, before being sent to the doghouse for good. If Burger King, Wendy's, and McDonald's can't make hot dogs bark with bite, who can?

Two years after Burger Israel used ketchup-filled donuts as buns to celebrate Hanukkah, Burger King, in its homeland, took a slightly different approach to mark National Donut Day in 2018. There was no sugar or sweetness in sight for the Whopper Donut, just adherence to the treat's shapes. A small hole was excised from the center of a Whopper to create this "donut," and that mini remainder came as a "free" mini-slider side piece.

The self-proclaimed "first flame-grilled donut ever" existed for a single day on June 1, and was only available at five locations across America: Boston, Miami Beach, Los Angeles, New York City, and Salt Lake City. For those unable to make it, Burger King teamed with Tasty to provide an online tutorial on how to create a DIY version in the comfort of one's own home. Even to this day, if you desire a Whopper Donut, a simple cylindrical cookie cutter, or thin drinking glass can core the donut "hole."

The release of a new Microsoft Windows operating system used to be a cause for celebration. That was apparently still the case when Windows 7 dropped in Japan back in 2009, which partnered with Burger King to create the Windows 7 Whopper. This Whopper was both 5 inches tall and wide, featured seven patties, came with a special sticker on the wrapper, and the first 30 sold per day went for 777¥. The demand went so well that this limited time item even got an extended run in stores.

If seven patties seemed like quite a mouthful, Burger King U.K. pushed one with eight in 2024 called The Klopper. This mega-burger was named for Liverpool football manager Jürgen Klopp, who was ending his tenure with the club that had earned 8 FA cups in its history. The Klopper had many fans ordering one up in his good name.