Burger King is launching Crispy Pretzel Chicken Fries, which covers chicken with a salty pretzel breading.

The limited-time offering follows in the footsteps of other Chicken Fries at the chain, including the Cheetos Chicken Fries that launched in 2016.

Over-the-top new menu items can grab customers' attention and convince them to visit a chain that they may not have dined at in a long time.

Burger King has a wild new menu item.

On Thursday, the fast-food chain is launching Crispy Pretzel Chicken Fries for a limited time, Burger King told Business Insider. The new menu item, which has a suggested price of a little over $3, takes fry-shaped chicken and coats it with salty seasoned pretzel breading.

Crispy Pretzel Chicken Fries are a twist on Burger King's original chicken fries, which debuted as a limited-time item in August 2014. Chicken fries were later added to the menu permanently because of popular demand.

Since then, Burger King has rolled out a number of absurd variations, including Cheetos Chicken Fries two years ago. Over the last few years, the chain has used uncommon menu items — such as Mac n Cheetos in the summer of 2016 — to boost foot traffic at the chain.

Jonathan Deutsch, a professor of culinary arts and food science at Drexel University, told The Motley Fool soon after the launch of Cheetos Chicken Fries that the limited-time menu item was part of a wider strategy.

"By introducing a new, must-try item like this, they get people in the door," Deutsch said. "Even if the item is somewhat niche, it gets people, groups of friends and families to purchase additional products as well and reminds guests of that restaurant as a meal option."

In 2018, many customers need that type of incentive to visit a chain. In an extremely competitive industry, fast-food chains need whatever edge they can get. And, for Burger King, Crispy Pretzel Chicken Fries could be the edge the chain needs.