Trends in Japan: Sweets in Disguise
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 01.11.06
Trends in Japan usually show up here a couple of months or years later; here is one to watch. It appears that men do not like to be seen eating elaborate cakes in public, so a confectioner set up what looks like a typical fast food outlet to sell what look like hamburgers and fries, but that are in fact cake. We see a big market for vegetarians who want to buy monster houses. ::Trends in Japan
"The Mamido burger, for instance, which sells for ¥390 ($3.25 at ¥120 to the dollar), is a highlight of the menu. The "bun" is actually a sponge cake, the "patty" inside is chocolate cream, and the "pickles" are kiwis. The deep-fried fish burger, meanwhile, priced at ¥440 ($3.70), features a banana shaped like a fish fillet in sponge cake. It is topped with "tartar sauce," which is actually fresh cream. And the gratin burger, also at ¥440, is a sandwich with a cream cheese and fruit filling.
The side dishes are equally ingenious. The French fries look like the real thing but are actually custard cream covered in starch powder and deep-fried. The fries, diners are told, are delectable when topped with ketchup. Without exception, every item on the menu is a sweet of some sort.
When it comes to sweets, women are widely regarded as by far the most important market. And when it comes to cakes in Shibuya, high school girls generally have a monopoly.
There are plenty of sweet-toothed men, but many feel too embarrassed to eat elaborate cakes and the like in public. For men like this, especially middle-aged businessmen, the great thing about the sweets at Mamido's Burger is that they come disguised as fast food. Such men can now walk around town munching away, safe in the knowledge that nobody will ever suspect that what they have in their hand is not a hamburger but a cake. Perhaps this is why men number so highly among the shop's patrons. "
here in wakefield we have a small local chain that makes a donut that looks exactly like a hamburger. it's great.
since burgers aren't bad enough they've brought us the cakeburger. i must say this is ingenious though. how about going all the way and making a healthy looking one like a vegetable baba ganoush or a falafel.
Too embarassed to be seen eating cakes in public, but have no problem reading hentai on the subway. Go figure.
What an ingenious new marketing ploy for junk food. I'm wondering though what is "Treehugger" about this post? Did I miss something?
LA: Everything doesn't have to be treehugger, and in fact this is labelled un-treehugger. we have a continuing discussion about vegetarianism and obesity here, so a cakeburger has a place in the context. And, as you say, it is ingenious.
Well, I don't think it's either treehugger or untreehugger - it's definitely unhealthy, but all in moderation they say.
Anyway, it shows what can be done with perception - face it, many 'treehugger' ideas have to be presented in creative manners to win over people who would otherwise cringe about them. See this post on the pitfalls of Green Marketing:
LINK HERE
Hmmm...definatly un-healthy. But I dont see why its un-treehugger.