Burger King Says New Burger Is ‘Clinically Proven to Induce Nightmares’
Given everything crowded onto its glowing green bun, it’s certainly not a dieter’s dream.
Burger King apparently wants to rule the scary Halloween food landscape. The fast food chain has announced the release of a new sandwich called the Nightmare King it claims is “clinically proven to induce nightmares” in those who eat it.
Yes, clinically.
The sandwich — a 1/4 lb. beef burger, a white-meat crispy chicken fillet, melted American cheese, a slab of bacon, onions and a slather of mayo crammed on a glowing, green, glazed sesame-seed bun — definitely doesn’t look like it would go down like a dream. But BK wanted proof of its sleep-disruptive potential. So, the company says, it worked with partners including the Florida Sleep & Neuro Diagnostic Services, Inc., which appears to be a legit sleep and neurological diagnostics lab in South Florida, to see if the stunt sandwich actually increased the incidence of scary dreams for 100 participants over the course of 10 nights.
The participants’ heart rate, brain activity and breathing were tracked by “a group of doctors and scientists” to determine the incidence of dreams, according to a press release.
“According to previous studies, 4% of the population experiences nightmares in any given night,” Dr. Jose Gabriel Medina, identified as the study’s lead doctor, said. “But, after eating the Nightmare King, the data obtained from the study indicated that the incidence of nightmares increased by 3.5 times.”
“Someone in my dream turned into the burger,” one person identified as a study participant said in a promotional video. “The burger then transformed into the figure of a snake.”
Medina suggests that the cheese and protein in the sandwich -- available for a limited time starting October 22 at a price of $6.39 -- contributed to a disruption in participants’ REM sleep and thus the increase in nightmares.
Maybe, but if you want to contemplate a real Halloween nightmare, mull this one over: Burger King has also released a Frozen Fanta Scary Black Cherry slushie and at least one person who’s tried it has taken to social media to report that it “stain[s] your mouth black.”
So I guess it’s kind of both trick and treat.
Photo courtesy of @pityoka
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