$string =~ s/\Q$token\E/$date/;

##</code><code>##

$test_string =~ s/\Q[A-Z]{3}\E([A-Z]{3})/$1/;

##</code><code>##

my $token = quotemeta ( '[DATE:%Y-%m-%d]' );

##</code><code>##

$string =~ s/$token/$date/;

##</code><code>##

my $token = '\[DATE:%Y-%m-%d\]';

##</code><code>##

$string =~ s/$token/$date/;