‘Sacrilege!’ Kansas City BBQ fans roast Australian burger chain’s new KC Whopper

Have you tried Burger King’s new Kansas City Whopper? You’ve likely not even seen one, unless you live in the Land Down Under.

Burger King in Australia — where the chain is called Hungry Jack’s — recently introduced the Whopper as part of a new “Kansas City Range” of menu items.

It’s only available in Australia. But thanks to the internet, this brazen burger has raised a minor ruckus on social media.

This is how Hungry Jack’s describes the new burger on its website: “100% flame-grilled Aussie beef topped with melted cheese, double bacon, Thick Tangy Kansas City Sauce, Onion, crispy slaw, ranch sauce and mayo on a toasted sesame seed bun.”

A Reddit user incited heated debate a few days ago when they wrote: “So I felt this new burger release was pretty random, not many people know where Kansas City is in Australia. Is this burger accurate for your city? Just curious nothing serious! Thanks.”

“The answer to your question is NO,” came one of the first replies.

The burger set off Reddit commenters with Missouri, Chiefs, Jayhawks and other local references in their usernames — folks who failed to see anything “Kansas City” about the burger except for the sauce reference.

“Sacrilege! Blasphemy! KC BBQ is definitely NOT THAT!”

“This looks so gross and so wrong. Not close to anything that would be served in Kansas City.”

“I live in Kansas City. This is a marketing trick. None here would eat that slop.”

“Born and raised, what the (bleep) is that?”

“I didn’t think you could make a Whopper worse, but here we are.”

“I don’t think anyone in Marketing thought you’d fact-check for accuracy lmfao.”

“This thing is as reminiscent of Kansas City as Foster’s is of Australian beer.”

Much of the criticism had to do with the sauce on the burger. Is it supposed to be barbecue?

“The person who made this clearly has never been to Kansas City. What the (heck) is ‘Kansas City Sauce?’” one person wrote.

“To make it more accurate, they should have put some burnt ends and cheesy corn on that thing, then smothered in BBQ sauce. That would’ve been more accurate,” wrote another.

“I’m assuming ‘Kansas City sauce’ is a BBQ sauce. I feel like having three sauces is excessive,” someone else griped. “I’m also assuming the slaw is supposed to be like slaw on a pulled pork sandwich. You can get it here, but it’s more of a Carolina thing. Get rid of the slaw and the ranch, and add onion rings, and it would be more representative of KC.”

Reddit user Call Me Jevans shared their thoughts in a detailed discourse.

“First of all this burger does not resemble anything anyone in Kansas City would immediately recognize or would associate with KC,” they wrote. “Kansas City is best known food wise for barbecue.

“Barbecue to us means smoked meats cooked low and slow not hamburgers, steaks, hotdogs, etc on a hot grill (although we consume plenty of those as well).

“BBQ is very regional in the states and different regions have their own twists on BBQ. One of the distinct features of KC BBQ is a sweet molasses based sauce, so the sauce on the burger sounds like it could be similar to KC BBQ sauce.

“The most ‘famous’ sandwich from one of our BBQ restaurants. Is the Z-man from Joes KC. This is a brisket sandwich with BBQ sauce, provolone cheese and an onion ring. So the onion could maybe be considered an homage to the Z-man.

“One ingredient that stands out as not related to KC at all is the coleslaw. Coleslaw on a BBQ sandwich is most associated to Carolina regional BBQ.

“Also ranch is popular in our region of the country, but it would never be combined with BBQ sauce on a sandwich. Lastly the bacon and cheese are obviously ingredients that you would find on a burger in any region of the U.S.

“P.S visited Melbourne and Sydney several years back and loved it. Might now need to come back and try this monstrosity of a burger”

A popular Australian YouTube channel, Greg’s Kitchen, posted a review of the burger for its more than 334,000 followers.

The reviewer lifted the sesame seed bun to reveal a pile of dry slaw, a slice of raw bacon, red sauce, ranch dressing, mayo, a burger patty and cheese.

He described the “apricot-jammy” flavor of the Kansas City sauce and said the burger had “tons of flavor” and “magnificent crunch.”

He gave it a 9.5 out of 10.

One Reddit user told the original poster that the burger was a “good effort” and invited them to visit Kansas City “some day when the U.S. political climate is kinder. We have a great city.”

Another commenter found this bright side: “Look, at least we got international recognition. I’m grateful we exist to other countries