Whenever something gets incredibly popular, fast food collaborations are often fast to follow. Just think of how grown adults eagerly buy Happy Meals whenever it’s Pokémon Card time. But now, it’s a different anime’s turn to get a major fast food chain tie-in: One Piece.
This is not the first time One Piece has had a promotional fast food tie-in by a long shot. I’m still admiring the commercial from One Piece‘s promotional tie-in with McDonald’s Japan last year for their annual treasure, the Chicken Tatsuta. There are One Piece promotions in Japan very regularly. There’s one at Mos Burger right now. This all makes sense—One Piece has a ridiculously big deal in Japan for over two decades.
But the French Burger King campaign is hitting different for Western fans. It’s the first time—at least as far as I can tell—that a Western branch of a major fast food chain is doing a One Piece promotion.
As such, fans based in the U.S. were immediately overcome with envy. Is there any chance the promotion could come over the Atlantic?
What France’s big One Piece collab, anyway?
On January 18, 2024, Burger King France started tweeting images of Luffy and Sanji. Luffy is wearing the trademark cardboard Burger King crown over his own trademark straw hat, and Sanji is wearing the apron and cap of a Burger King employee, despite the fact that they’re on the Straw Hats’ ship, the Thousand Sunny—at least at first glance. Behind Sanji, over the door to the crews’ quarters, is a sign plastered right into the wall which reads “Boat of the Whopper.”
The Boat of the Whopper is apparently an actual thing, and you can follow its progress online. As of writing this article, it has traveled from France to Cuba. Why? Why not!
By January 23, Burger King France made clear that this is all because they’re offering two new burgers: the Luffy Burger and the Sanji Burger. Each has its own accompanying t-shirt swag available, which says “Boat of the Whopper” with one of the two new pieces of Burger Theme-themed One Piece art. And if you’re reading this, live in France, and want to buy me the Sanji one … thank you.
There are even new packs of trading cards, which don’t seem to be One Piece Trading Card Game cards. Just … some cards.
Will the promotion come to the USA?
While the literal Boat of the Whopper seems primed to at least brush the coast of Florida, it would be a bizarre twist if the point of the real, actual boat funded by Burger King France was to announce that two burgers are also coming to the USA. Kind of ingenious, but I don’t expect that will happen.
So yes, this promotion is currently for French fans only. But keep up the (polite!) discourse, and maybe somewhere will give U.S. fans something in the future.
(Image credit: Toei Animation / Burger King)
