Call it the year of the breakfast war for fast food chains. Burger King is joining McDonald's and Taco Bell for morning customers, but Burger King has a creative way of doing it: They're offering burgers for breakfast.

Earlier this year, McDonald's and Taco Bell exchanged blows in the breakfast market trying to lure more customers into their restaurants. Taco Bell unveiled its new breakfast menu with the AM Crunchwrap and the Waffle Taco, prompting McDonald's to offer free coffee.

Burger King already has a pretty good breakfast menu, but now they're adding Whoppers, chicken sandwiches, fries and apple pie. In the past, burgers weren't available until 10:00 a.m or 10:30 a.m., but some franchisees were breaking that rule to make those who crave a burger in the morning happy.

Now, corporate is making it official. The "Burgers at Breakfast" menu was announced Friday morning. 5,000 Burger King locations have opted in to the program. It will debut as soon as signage and promotional materials can be printed.

Burger King's focus on breakfast is important. The NPD Group found that consumers are cutting back on lunch and dinner visits to restaurants, but breakfast visits increased for the fourth consecutive year. 

McDonald's is trying to find ways to extend its breakfast hours. Unlike Burger King's offering of burgers for breakfast, McDonald's wants to serve breakfast sandwiches, like the Egg McMuffin, during lunch, dinner and late night hours. So far, the test of the extended breakfast hours has been limited to late night offerings of select breakfast items in addition to the normal burgers and fries.

Burger King's idea of burgers for breakfast could be a great way to bring the third shift workers into their restaurants. Since third shifters have different sleep and eating schedules, they might crave burgers in the morning.

"Selling Burgers at Breakfast at Burger King restaurants allows our guests to start their day being their way -- either with the great flame broiled taste of our signature burgers and sandwiches or with our delicious suite of breakfast offerings," a statement to Burgerbusiness.com said.

Will you try a Whopper or chicken sandwich for breakfast? Let us know in the comments section below.