KFC Double Down Threatens Tokyo!

The unthinkable has happened: The KFC Double Down will soon start colonizing Japan.

It was only a matter of time, perhaps, before America exported its culinary freak show to our friends in the East. February 2, the date of the Double Down’s Japanese debut, will doubtless go down in the country’s history as a day of gastronomic reckoning.

According to the website Japan Probe, the sandwich has been rechristened with the more plain-spoken, less colloquial “Chicken Fillet Double.” Rest assured, the name is the only thing that’s changing. As in the U.S., the 540-calorie edifice comprises two deep-fried chicken fillets, melted cheese, bacon, and the Colonel’s “secret sauce.” A hilarious TV news video on Japan Probe shows a visit to a promotional branch in Tokyo that has been rebranded in black in celebration of the DD’s arrival. Appropriately, it looks like a funeral shroud, or the Death Star.

The video notes McDonald’s plans to stage a retaliation of sorts by selling 100-yen (about $1.30) Chicken McNuggets until January 26. Regardless of who prevails, the real victor, of course, will be Astellas Pharma, manufacturer of Lipitor in Japan.

Image source: JapanProbe.com

CHOW contributor Rebecca Flint Marx eats and writes in New York City. You can follow her on Twitter. Follow CHOW, too, and become a fan on Facebook.