Hoax features image of Breed on snack
For a few days now, the manager of a 7-Eleven store in downtown San Francisco has been hearing from confused customers hoping to bite into onigiri, a popular, triangular rice ball snack available at Japanese 7-Eleven locations.
They’ve heard, via a widely shared post on X (formerly Twitter), that it was finally available in San Francisco — with a photo of Mayor London Breed on the packaging.
“Many people asked me about it yesterday and today,” said Dharm Singh, the manager of the 221 Sansome St. 7-Eleven location featured in the post, who appeared nonplussed behind the register.
Sadly for fans of Japanese convenience store food offerings, it was the latest stunt from a local performance artist. There were no promotional onigiri at the location, or at any other 7-Eleven in the city.
Danielle Baskin posted photos of the snacks, claiming they were part of a collaboration with Breed. Photos in Baskin’s post show packaging with a portrait of Breed and the “It all starts here” slogan from a local campaign to promote civic pride in San Francisco.
“Hell yes! Mayor London Breed partnered with 7-Eleven on a new initiative to bring Japanese onigiri to convenience stores in San Francisco,” Baskin wrote. “Got in line early yesterday and snagged one.”
Baskin’s post was widely circulated, with more than 200 reposts and almost 300 quote posts, plus more than 500 likes.
Baskin seems to have tapped into a common sentiment, with people tagging officials in responses to bringing onigiri to their local convenience stores.
It’s not just onigiri that are popular. There’s a niche of western travelers who are fanatical about Japanese-style convenience store fare, like egg salad sandwiches and tempura bites. However, the onigiri flavors in the photos were probably not the closest to what you would find at a store in Tokyo, with one stuffing being spicy bean and another jalapeño.
In response to a question about the onigiri, Jeff Cretan, the mayor’s spokesperson, said there was no collaboration between Breed and 7-Eleven. “Seems like everyone online is being a little too gullible today,” he wrote. “That being said, (onigiri) is a delicious snack and I hope more businesses are selling it.”
Singh, the 7-Eleven manager, said a group of people came into his store a few days ago, bringing the onigiri themselves and taking photos and video.
Breaking character, Baskin admitted the onigiri wasn’t real.
“You can find onigiri in Japantown and at a few grocery stores, but it’s not common or widespread yet. It has to start somewhere, so I staged a reality to show how excited people will be,” Baskin wrote to the Chronicle. The people in the photos were friends and fellow artists who “were also genuinely excited about getting an onigiri,” she wrote.
The stunt is the latest from Baskin, whose past diversions include listing anti-homeless boulders for free on Craigslist and installing Spirit Halloween signs at a vacant Google office building — making a reference to the seasonal retailer taking over empty big-box store locations.
Cretan recommended that onigiri fans seek out the options at Onigilly, a chain with several Bay Area locations, including one downtown — a mere two blocks west of the 7Eleven mentioned in Baskin’s post.