Burger King uses 'musical shower' as latest trick to entice Japanese clientele

A new Burger King eatery opening up in Japan isn't usually something we concern ourselves too much with, but this one comes with an interesting new twist. Those umbrella-aping translucent cones hanging over the tables are known as "musical showers," and their function is to deliver music in an isolated fashion to you and your significant -- but not too significant, it's still BK, after all -- other. All you'll need to do is plug your portable media player into the provided receptacle and the tunes you know and love will literally shower down upon you. To be honest, if the audio channeling is sufficiently precise not to disturb nearby punters, we're loving this idea. Now just give it a name that won't make teenagers giggle and bring it westwards.

[2her0ck Posted Jul 8th 2010 7:43AM]

looks like they want more people dating in Fast food restaurants...

[BlackedOut Posted Jul 8th 2010 7:44AM]

If you take a girl on a date to Burger King, you blew it.

[element4life3 Posted Jul 8th 2010 8:19AM]

@BlackedOut If you took her to Taco Bell however....

[element4life3 Posted Jul 8th 2010 8:40AM]

@Eli Haj You are thinking of Chipotle kind sir

[midnightblade Posted Jul 8th 2010 8:56AM]

@element4life3

No, chipotle is just blood, which for some isn't quite as bad as taco bell.

[Bort Simpson Posted Jul 8th 2010 9:02AM]

@midnightblade

HI THERE, I AM BILLIE MAYS. I'VE GOT THIS WONDERFUL PRODUCT FOR YOU: CHIPOTLE AWAY.....

[KinGKasH Posted Jul 8th 2010 9:21AM]

@2her0ck all i see is alota people forgetting their phones and ipods....

[SskyNnet Posted Jul 8th 2010 10:24AM]

@BlackedOut If you take a girl on a date to BK does not mean you blew it. Some people can do it and the girl will not mind, although in your case you probably have to take her to a 5 star restaurant so she thinks something more of you and/or try to get something from her.

[Gasaraki Posted Jul 8th 2010 10:31AM]

@2her0ck

You people forget that "fast food" in other countries is very expensive and considered high end so it's probably cool to take your gf to Burger King in Japan.

[One Love Posted Jul 8th 2010 10:55AM]

@2her0ck : That's a classy looking burger king.

[ALBGunner04 Posted Jul 8th 2010 12:21PM]

@Gasaraki
This is true. Whenever I go back to Europe, I sometimes visit a McDonald's cause my friends there love it. It's actually pretty expensive, much more cleaner and fancier. Pretty surprising when you compare them with their counterparts here. Sure, they're cheap here, but they also look like shit too lol

[drkztan Posted Jul 8th 2010 4:29PM]

@ALBGunner04 yes sir, that's true. i moved to barcelona, where i live, about 3 years ago. a meal on a mcdonald's or a burger king is actually about the same price as one on a regular bar. 7.40€ (9.37$) for a big mac, fries and coke included. fast food here is just as good as almost any other restaurant(taking into account that fast food restaurants have recently started to out more and more "healthy" chicken or fish-based meals. yummy)

[revo9246 Posted Jul 8th 2010 7:43AM]

Thats old news, the burger king in singapore are already using it more than one year ago

[dotdotdotz Posted Jul 8th 2010 9:26AM]

@revo9246 and it took locals all of 1 month after launch to break all of them. None of the docks work anymore. Right tech, wrong place?

[Smart People Play Tuba Posted Jul 8th 2010 7:44AM]

Better than a "golden shower" . . .

[Paul Ryan Posted Jul 8th 2010 1:18PM]

@Smart People Play Tuba

That's actually the name McDonald's is planning to give the technology.

[Ruthless Posted Jul 8th 2010 7:48AM]

Very cutting edge. It's a shame about the clunky retro-volume switch tho.

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 8th 2010 7:53AM]

Cute, but I prefer the McDonalds xD

[FiLunder7 Posted Jul 8th 2010 7:54AM]

Only for Apple gadgets? Alea jacta est.

[yeoldgreat1 Posted Jul 8th 2010 9:06AM]

@FiLunder7
I suppose you might be able to assume there is a 3.5mm cable in there as well for the non-fruit variants.

[T0astedP0Ptart Posted Jul 8th 2010 7:54AM]

How come I don't ever get to go to a fancy Burger King like that? :(

[dingus Posted Jul 8th 2010 9:01AM]

@T0astedP0Ptart. Because your Whopper combo doesn't cost $15.

[paul34 Posted Jul 8th 2010 9:21AM]

@T0astedP0Ptart

Also, because the BKs are generally fancy in the US, it's a volume business (no pun intended) - they want you in and out as fast as possible. If they let you listen to music, you might stick around. And someone taking up a table means a few customers who can't sit down, and possibly lost sales.

[DefPoet Posted Jul 8th 2010 7:55AM]

why blast audio from a ipod touch with its degraded audio quality
cowon series or sansa clip or a creative would of been a better choice as a source for the music you blasting over the speakers to your customers.

[Raytem Posted Jul 8th 2010 8:01AM]

@DefPoet Everything is so degraded about any apple product. Everything they make is just piece of crap. People are just dumb phux that they invest hundreds of dollars in apple products. You are so smart so rest of the commenters on Engadget who shamelessly bash Appke any chance they get that they don't invest in apple. Keep it up guys. Keep the hate coming.

[C 3PO Posted Jul 8th 2010 8:06AM]

@Raytem

I take your one of those people who is perfectly content with their Apple Earphones or any other $2 headphone or any skullcandy?

[Kid Red Posted Jul 8th 2010 8:52AM]

@C 3PO Yea, because the headphones that come with the Zune are top notch!

[Kiwi Flake Posted Jul 8th 2010 9:35AM]

@Kid Red
Why bring Zune in, he didn't talk about it...

[SskyNnet Posted Jul 8th 2010 10:30AM]

@C 3PO Your does NOT mean You're (I'm not perfect at spelling but that specific word is common sence) btw, I assume you are buying higher quality headphones for your iPod, if so did you know that the iPods do not have good sound drivers for those headphones? I believes Zunes is better, but still not good.

[MrDiSante Posted Jul 8th 2010 10:37AM]

@Kid Red
Wouldn't say top notch, but the 80GB Zune came with pretty decent headphones. Too bad they got rid of that :(.

[achalddave Posted Jul 8th 2010 4:38PM]

@SskyNnet Common sense*.
If you correct someone's spelling, at least do it right.

[Saltboy Posted Jul 8th 2010 8:02AM]

That is an old tech. I have seen that at a yogurt place called Orange Cup in San Antonio. It is a neat idea, but you are not completely in your own cone of your music.

If anything, it is nice to charge your iPhone while you eat.

[thehopson Posted Jul 8th 2010 9:34AM]

@Saltboy Yeah we've got a few of those in Dallas. If you have a case on your phone you have to remove it to get it into the dock. Then if you eat your yogurt REALLY slow, you might make it through a 3 songs before you have to pry your phone back out and re-assemble your phone (which is now covered in strawberry residue). After the glam wore off the only people you ever see using it now are 14 year old girls that have nothing better to do than sit at the mall all day. Therefore I say NAY. They have much louder stuff you can plug your phone into at Fry's.

[SBMfromLA Posted Jul 8th 2010 8:02AM]

I can't even remember the last time I went to any Burger King... Come to think of it, ever since I've been watching my calorie-intake for the past couple of years, I really haven't been to any burger joints... However, I will go on record as saying their burgers were a lot better tasting than McDonalds.

[NeatOman Posted Jul 8th 2010 8:02AM]

I've been under one, 3 feet away you could barely hear anything... not until your about a foot away, then underneath... BOOM! full strong sound.

[Raziel66 Posted Jul 8th 2010 11:03AM]

@NeatOman Heck yeah! I think those domes are cool. I nabbed two of them when the mall I work at was done using them for a promotion. They were going to throw the things away!

They had proprietary connections on them but I stripped the wire and rigged up a regular audio cable... they sound great now. Still haven't had a chance to hang them up though.

[db2 Posted Jul 8th 2010 8:03AM]

So, McDonald's has those golden arches. Would they call their version the Golden Shower?

[oskarion Posted Jul 8th 2010 8:35AM]

@db2 clever...

[Jayenkai Posted Jul 8th 2010 8:16AM]

Mmmmm..
Magical Sound Shower...

[mcg Posted Jul 8th 2010 8:24AM]

There's one of these here in Austin, at a yogurt shop in the Domain. I tried it out. It's kind of weird.

[Bulldog321 Posted Jul 8th 2010 8:34AM]

I am sure many ebay entrepreneurs will be waiting for all those forgotten music players in those receptacles.

[Ksult1 Posted Jul 8th 2010 8:48AM]

I'd rather communally enjoy clean modern pop classics in public areas, as I do now.

[MowDownJoe Posted Jul 8th 2010 9:03AM]

@Ksult1 I wouldn't. I hate alot of modern top 40's music.

[Kiwi Flake Posted Jul 8th 2010 9:38AM]

@MowDownJoe
True, mainstream stuff is horrible.

[Ksult1 Posted Jul 8th 2010 9:56AM]

@Ksult1 I was making a joke, guys, although the "modern" stuff played is not usually Top 40 stuff, anyway. I think they are Indie reimaginings of relatively modern songs that people are familiar with, likely to avoid paying for the originals. Some of them end up being quite good and more interesting than the originals.

[Alex Posted Jul 8th 2010 9:10AM]

Sweet, I remember they used to have these at Tower Records. Blew my mind every time.

[MVMNT Posted Jul 8th 2010 9:22AM]

Id sooner choke on my lunch and die a miserable death in Burger King than listen to the Black Eyed Peas

[Pingles Posted Jul 8th 2010 9:46AM]

I'd pay for a cone of silence.

[toddH Posted Jul 8th 2010 9:46AM]

Does anyone know which company makes these?

[SaranWrap Posted Jul 8th 2010 9:59AM]

@toddH
If you are referring to the iPhone / iPod dock it is made by Sonance and is called the iPort. http://www.customsoundco.com/iPod_Docks.cfm?special=1