VIDEO: McD's introduces chocolate fries
Customers like Shigeaki Yamaguchi may be the last hope for McDonald's Japan as it battles slumping sales in the wake of an embarrassing string of food scandals.
At a location in Tokyo's busy Shinjuku district, Yamaguchi munched on the chain's newest culinary offering -- french fries drizzled in brown and white chocolate syrup.
"Delicious," the 37-year-old proclaimed as he dug into the sticky 330 yen ($2.90) mass known as the McChoco Potato.
"The reason I came is that I wanted to taste products that didn't exist until now."
Love them or hate them, social media spun into a frenzy over chocolate fries, and customer numbers rose in January for the first time in several years -- just as the salty-sweet creation launched.
"The chocolate fries have been extremely popular with customers, and actually not just customers in Japan," the unit's president Sarah Casanova said last week.
"They have made the news and blogs and SNS (social networking services) all over the world."
Still, food industry watchers warn it will take more than the apparent success of chocolate fries to save the fast-food chain's bacon.