Mayor Breed 7-Eleven onigiri: The story behind the 'initiative' to sell the Japanese snacks at SF stores
Japanese rice triangles, known as onigiri, wrapped with a photo of San Francisco Mayor London Breed. (Danielle Baskin )
SAN FRANCISCO - Images of onigiri seaweed rice triangles, being sold with San Francisco Mayor London Breed's face on them, have been circulating on social media, generating excitement and some confusion around a purported initiative to bring the popular Japanese snacks to 7-Eleven convenience stores in the city.
The images were posted on X, and included a video of people lined up outside the Sansome Street store location, chanting, "Onigiri" and hyped up about "7-Eleven San Francisco onigiri launch day."
Danielle Baskin, who posted a six-part thread about the rice triangles, explained how she learned about the launch on a 7-Eleven Instagram story, and questioned "why this hasn’t received local press coverage yet."
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In her thread, Baskin detailed how Mayor Breed had partnered with 7-Eleven on an initiative to bring the Japanese onigiri to convenience stores in San Francisco.
"I’m beyond thrilled!" Baskin posted, adding, "We have a serious lack of affordable and healthy snack options in America, so this is big news for improved quality of life."
She also provided specific details, including the $2.89 price for the snacks and how the onigiri came in different flavors, like jalapeño and lime, reflecting popular local cuisines, like Mexican and Chinese.
The post triggered a range of comments from those equally excited about the "initiative," to those who were baffled over why the mayor would be involved in it, as others suggested the city had bigger problems that required Breed's attention.
It turned out that those questioning the mayor’s partnership with 7-Eleven were rightfully confused, as the idea was totally made up by Baskin, a conceptual artist who described her work as one that "often blends playfulness and practicality." In her words: "Some are surrealist ideas I take very seriously."
In an email correspondence with KTVU, the artist said she wanted to demonstrate a different, healthier model of convenience stores.
"Convenience store options in Asia are incredible," she shared, "I thought the way to do this was to show how exciting it would be if there was a US 7-Eleven offering onigiri in San Francisco," Baskin explained.
She said her post was successful in launching a discussion on where one can find onigiri in the city. "I'm excited that onigiri is in the limelight," she said, adding, "I learned that Nijiya market in Japantown sells out of onigiri every day. People really love this snack,"
And while the detailed concept was just that-- a demonstration of an artist’s vision of what could be, Baskin said there was a chance her creative proposition could become reality down the road.
"There's a strong possibility that 7-Eleven will offer onigiri soon. The manager really wanted to order some after seeing the love for onigiri and trying one," Baskin shared, adding, "If convenience stores can figure out hot dogs, figuring out rice balls is very possible too."
An artist posted images of Japanese onigiri purportedly being sold at a 7-Eleven in San Francisco as part of a partnership with Mayor London Breed. (Danielle Baskin )