When winter comes, McDonald’s Japan’s pies aren’t just for dessert.

Here at SoraNews24, we’re of the opinion that pie is never really a bad thing, and so we’re happy to be tempted by McDonald’s Japan’s chocolate and strawberry pies every time we set foot inside one of their branches. Soon, though, McDonald’s Japan’s pies won’t just be for dessert, as they’re bringing back their Beef Stew Pies!

The Beef Stew Pie is a seasonal winter offering, with a crisp crust filled with beef, potatoes, and carrots. McDonald’s Japan even adds fond de veau veal stock to the piping hot stew, because just because this is fast food take-out that you eat with your hands doesn’t mean it can’t also be classy.

But McDonald’s Beef Stew Pie isn’t just for people who love stew and foodstuffs with fancy French names. It’s for people who love puns too! Since “pie” sounds very similar to “ai,” the Japanese words for “love” (well, one of them, anyway), McDonald’s marketing team has decided to have some fun with the packaging, which randomly features one of a number of pie/ai wordplay patterns.

▼ From left to right: Pai wa, ai da. (Pie is love.)
Pai sareru yori, pai shitai. (More than I want to be pie-ed, I want to pie.)
Pai wo sakendemo ii desu ka? (Is it OK if I shout pie?)

▼ Pai suru kimochi wo taisetsu ni. (Hold on to your feelings of pie.)
Pai shiteru.) (I pie you.)

There’s even more romance in the air, or maybe we should say air passing through the romance, with random packages that have heart-shaped steam vents.

And since the marketing team is obviously not taking itself too seriously, neither is J-pop recording star Takanori Nishikawa, a..k.a. T.M.Revolution, who appears in a commercial for the Beef Stew Pie while swapping “pie” for “ai” in its lyrics.

McDonald’s Japan’s Beef Stew pie goes on sale December 6, priced at 220 yen. It’s scheduled to be available until early January, so if you want to pair it with one of McDonald’s Gurakoro burgers, that’s an option too.

Source, images: Press release
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