LONDON: Would you try a burger called the Safe Dose? Or a falafel from Pfizer? How about injecting cheese sauce from a syringe?
A vaccine-themed burger truck, called Vaxine Burger, recently opened its doors in Lebanon just an hour’s drive from the Lebanese capital, Beirut.
Serving a variety of vaccine and coronavirus-themed burgers, the truck aims to attract customers who have been living in a country devastated by an economic crisis and a global health pandemic.
“We tried to insert a small amusing message that is not associated with the hospitals and the darkness we were living in,” the owner of the truck, Salah Khoriaty, told Arab News.
Featuring burger names such as “The Safe Dose”, “The Cheesy Booster”, and “The Immune Cow”, the menu is composed of funny vaccine-related puns that are intended to amuse the customers.
“The names are witty in order to bring a smile to the customer’s face and get their mind off the pandemic,” he added.
Serving sauce-filled syringes, the truck also intends to shed fears of the vaccine, particularly as Lebanon records a significant rise in cases.
Jumping on the COVID-19 bandwagon appears to be a profitable marketing strategy for restaurants across the Middle East, especially after the hospitality sector was heavily affected by the pandemic and the various lockdowns.
In Egypt, a falafel shop calling itself Pfizer Falafel was perceived on social media as both a funny and creative marketing tactic.
Why do they call it Pfizer falafel?
Well, you get one and a few weeks later you have to come back for a second https://t.co/aGCKkRySo6— Karl Sharro (@KarlreMarks) August 6, 2021
What’s inside Pfizer falafel in Egypt because I need it now pic.twitter.com/tVoX6dZeEg
— Amoona (@amoona_laymoona) August 13, 2021
The falafel shop even went further and featured the official logo of Pfizer on its store front. However, the shop bears no actual relation to the US-based pharmaceutical company.
In Bahrain, an ice cream store called Ice Cream Pfizer took a similar stride.
A social media user highlighted that the logo of the store is the same as the vaccination icon that is used in the local COVID-19 update app in Bahrain.
