Pizza Hut Taiwan has officially launched a turtle-shaped pizza as a promotional item on Mar. 21.

According to a viral promotional photo circulating on Facebook, the pizza has a red bean filling and is topped with mochi and cilantro.

Pizza Hut Taiwan website stated that the pizza is limited to pre-orders from Mar. 20 to 23 and will only be available from Mar. 24.

Viral even before official unveiling

A photo of the item was believed to have been leaked on Mar. 19 through PTT, a Taiwan-based online bulletin board, ahead of its official announcement.

The brochure showed images of the turtle pizza near a manhole and weapons such as a sai and shurikens, likely referring to the cartoon series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

There is also a caption in Mandarin which translates to "cowabunga", a phrase often used by the main characters in the series.

Employees allegedly disgruntled

The post stated that the news was allegedly leaked by a disgruntled employee on a Facebook group who claimed it takes too much effort to create the pizza and the end product wouldn't look like the promotional photo.

"Why not [the people who came up with the product] try making it themselves during peak hour?" the Facebook post wrote.

The PTT user who uploaded photos of the actual product described that it looked more like roadkill.

Netizens intrigued

News of the pizza garnered mixed responses from intrigued netizens after Taiwanese blogger Han Jing shared it on Facebook on Mar. 19.

"I don't know if I should believe it," she wrote.

Another image posted by Han Jing showed the real product:

Comments poured in from other Facebook users, with one saying that they wished to eat it.

The pizza also received praise, as one Facebook user said it is "very cute".

Another expressed a valid concern and asked whether the pizza will be "cut well".

Allegedly not only turtle pizza

After news of the turtle pizza went viral, another disgruntled employee took to Facebook to complain about another product.

The new product is allegedly called a "cheese snake".

The purported disgruntled staff ended their post with expletives directed at the company research and development team.

Past unique flavours

Pizza Hut Taiwan is no stranger to quirky flavours or products.

The chain has previously launched a pizza with coriander, century egg and pig's blood in 2021.

In May 2022, it launched a pizza with fried squid and Oreos as toppings.

Top photo via Pizza Hut Taiwan/Facebook & PTT