It’s not unheard of for customers at fast food restaurants to discover that the burger they ordered is either missing one of its ingredients or contains something that they asked to be left out. It’s quite another issue entirely, however, to receive a burger that’s missing its patty and for that order to still be technically correct.

But that’s exactly what wacky Japanese hamburger chain Lotteria has done with its latest creation. Say hello the “No-Shrimp Burger”; a shrimp burger without the shrimp.

Costing 210 yen (US$1.76) each, the “Ebi Nashi Baagaa” (lit. “no-shrimp burger”) is little more than a pair of hamburger buns with some lettuce and tartar sauce slipped in between. You might think that no one would pay good money for a half-finished burger, but Japan’s Twitter users, clearly intrigued by the concept of such an unfeasibly daft menu item, have been snapping it up by the looks of it.

▼ “I couldn’t help but order the Ebi-Nashi Burger…”

▼ “I ordered an ebi burger without the ebi.”

▼ “Lotteria’s rumoured Ebi-Nashi Burger. I quite like it!”

▼ “Ebi-Nashi Burger! It’s actually kind of good!”

But why on earth did Lotteria start serving up burgers without a proper filling?

“The shrimp has disappeared from our shrimp burger!?” exclaims the bold red text on Lotteria’s official promo poster for the Ebi-Nashi Burger. Beneath an image of the decidedly lonely-looking creation, meanwhile, is the message “Even without the shrimp it’s delicious” in a small speech bubble.

This is of course all just a clever little stunt on the fast food chain’s part, with a new Ebi (-included!) Burger apparently arriving sometime soon. It’s kind of nuts, but then what did we expect from the burger chain that gave us the 30-patty Tower Burger? You have to admit, this promo has got people talking, and more power to Lotteria if people are actually buying this thing!

But what happens when everyone realises they prefer their burgers without patties now and considers delicious discs of beef or shrimp annoying obstacles standing between them and the great taste of buns ‘n’ lettuce? Will burgers as we know them be ruined forever? Oh Lotteria, you fools, what have you done!?

Source: Lotteria; h/t Kotaku US

Featured image: Lotteria

* I’d like to take a moment to apologise to any fellow Brits who, while reading this article, have been shaking their head at my repeated use of the word “shrimp” and wondering why I didn’t write “prawn” like I was taught as a good British boy. The truth is, I’m not entirely sure of the difference between the two, and I’m afraid that if I write “prawn”, half of our readership will either mock me or think me insane. Please don’t exile me.