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[Clydefrog]

McLobster

The McLobster is pretty much lobster meat shoved in a hot dog bun with "McLobster sauce" and shredded lettuce. Like its much more successful compatriot the McRib, it appears every once in a while across the country as a promotion, only to vanish weeks later.

The fabled McLobster drew some hype earlier this year when rumors swirled about its reappearance nationwide. It's currently only available in parts of New England and eastern Canada.

There are a couple factors that gutted the McLobster's hopes of making it to the big time. It costs a hefty $5.99, which consumers are reluctant to pay for a single sandwich. Plus, it's incredibly difficult to market a "quality" shellfish item at a fast food joint.

McGratin Croquette

The McGratin Croquette (known as Gurakoro in Japan) was a particularly strange item, specially created for the Japanese market. It contains deep fried macaroni, shrimp and mashed potatoes. 8tokyo.com describes the texture of the inside of the croquette as "fluffy and creamy."

Most attribute its failure to its taste, but the marketing of the McGratin Croquette didn't match up well with the Japanese audience either. Somehow, it still manages to make a surprise appearance every so often in Japan only.

Hula Burger

McDonald's founder Ray Croc had countless successes with his items, but this wasn't one of them.

The meatless Hula Burger was meant for Catholics who abstained from eating meat every Friday. Instead of a beef or chicken patty, its bun contained a grilled pineapple slice, topped with cheese.

The idea behind it made sense — the execution just didn't work. People simply didn't like it. McDonald's killed the Hula Burger early on, as it became quickly evident that its alternative, the Filet-o-Fish, was getting much better traction.

Pizza & McPizza

McDonald's developed new pizza items in the late 1980s in its push to start offering dinner items, but it had some inherent problems right from the get-go.

The made-to-order pizza took far longer to make than the usual McDonald's fare, and consumers just weren't willing to wait for food that was supposed to be fast. There was also the McPizza, which resembled Hot Pockets and failed miserably.

Competition in the pizza industry was intense, and McDonald's pizzas didn't have the pull to take customers away from the big chains like Domino's and Pizza Hut. But also, it just wasn't consistent with the McDonald's brand. People went to McDonald's for burgers and fries, not pizza.

McSpaghetti

Another one of those dinner items, McSpaghetti just couldn't get it quite right. There was also lasagna and fettucini alfredo, along with side dishes in the form of mashed potatoes with gravy and a vegetable medley. It went down quickly with the rest of that dinner menu.

It's still available in some international markets, and even has a bit of a cult following.

McAfrika

The McAfrika was one of the biggest marketing catastrophes McDonald's ever caused for itself. It contained beef, cheese, tomatoes and salad in a pita-like sandwich.
It was released in 2002 during a slew of famines in southern Africa. McDonald's apologized and pulled the item, once the PR crisis heated up.
McDonald's did it again with the McAfrica in a 2008 promotion for the Olympics. Unsurprisingly, it received a similar negative outcry.

Arch Deluxe

The Arch Deluxe debuted in 1996 and was meant to target (and only target) McDonald's adult customers, but it bombed massively. The burger was a quarter-pounder with peppered bacon, lettuce, tomato, cheese, onions, ketchup and a secret sauce.
It's been considered one of the most expensive product failures in McDonald's history, primarily due to the $100 million marketing campaign that accompanied it. Advertisements depicted children disgusted with the burger, and Ronald McDonald playing adult sports.
A decade later, McDonald's tried a similar sandwich in Japan, called the Tomato McGrand. It failed too.

McHotDog

The taste of the McHotDog was acceptable to consumers, and there were no scandals behind the scenes or within the bun.
But the failure McHotDog was a branding issue. Even what seemed like a low-risk, simple product never caught on because McDonald's consumers just didn't equate the brand with the type of food. It made a few comebacks during the mid-1990s as a seasonal item in select mid-western US restaurants.
It has since reappeared in Japan, where consumers are used to McDonald's offering a wider variety of options.

McDLT

McDonald's introduced the McDLT in the mid-1980s. It was a simple burger with lettuce and tomato, but came in a styrofoam package with separated the lettuce and tomato from the beef patty, keeping the veggies cool and the meat warm.
All was going well for the McDLT until a PR crisis squashed it. The country was becoming increasingly conscious about the environment, and the double-container caused double the damage.
McDonald's pulled the ill-fated McDLT from its menu in 1990, after a 6-year run.

McLean Deluxe

The McLean Deluxe was another one of McDonald's earlier efforts to be perceived as more health-conscious. It was more a cousin to its predecessor the McDLT than the similarly-named Arch Deluxe which appeared half a decade later.
Introduced in 1991, the burger was advertised as 91% fat-free, but what doomed the McLean Deluxe was what McDonald's did to get it that way.
McDonald's replaced much of the fat with water and injected carrageenan (seaweed) in order to get the patty to stay together. It performed well in initial taste tests, but it didn't sell well once it went live.

Big ‘N Tasty

The Big N' Tasty was yet another attempt to defeat Burger King's Whopper, a feat its predecessors — the McDLT and Big Xtra — failed to do.
While not a complete failure, consumer preferences had leaned towards another line of McDonald's items in recent years — the Angus burgers — and the company decided to cut the Big N' Tasty from its menu earlier this year.

Super-size

McDonald's started offering super-sized meals in 1993, and fast-food-goers gobbled it up. But it all went downhill in 2004 when independent filmmaker Morgan Spurlock's documentary Super Size Me was released. The film showed Spurlock eating nothing but McDonald's for a month, and how it negatively affected his body.
It was a PR disaster for McDonald's, and the company had no choice but to start pulling super-sizing from its menus. By the end of 2004, super-sized portions were gone forever.

link to article

 

[FStop7]

Don't diss McDLT.

 

[t-storm]

I loved the Arch Deluxe

 

[Deleted member 81567]

That McLobster looks repulsive.

 

[Chris R]

The Arch Deluxe was actually really damn good.

 

[Watch Da Birdie]

I don't get why they named it the McAfrika...

The article makes it seem like they did it because of the famine, but I assume there's an unfortunate coincidence explaining why it ended up with that name.

 

[AbsoluteZero]

Want to try the McLobster, Hula Burger and McAfrika.

Though to be fair the Hula Burger I get when I go to Phil's Grill, as they offer sliced Pineapple as a topping.

 

[Entropia]

McPizza was fucking awesome except the fact that you were going to have cardboard melted onto it!

 

[RubxQub]

What is the deal with the McRib? I was honestly thinking there was a 50/50 shot that it'd be on this list considering it's constantly showing up and going away.

Wonder if McD's figured out that consumers love the McRib because it's rare instead of just loving the McRib itself.

Personally, McRibs are fantastic and wish they were around forever.

 

[Seraphinianus]

i liked the McLean Deluxe with cheese a lot for some reason.

 

[DietRob]

I remember the McPizza. The only McDs that had it was one in the middle of nowhere that was on the way to the summer camp I went to as a kid. Every year we would stop at that McDs on the way to camp and on the way back from camp.

I imagine this is nostalgia talking but I miss that summer camp pizza.

 

[Saren is Bad]

now i feel like an idiot for asking to get my stuff super-sized for the past 7 years

 

[notworksafe]

I just want McPizza back. Arch Deluxe was alright too.

 

[TommyT]

I worked there during the reign of the Big N Tasty... was always on special and we had to discontinue it when the lettuce and tomato prices were going up due to some hurricane at the time. People ordered the shit out of that thing.

edit: I like how they talk about "super-sizing". That wasn't even the biggest size! Also, you can still get it (super sized orders), it just isn't called that anymore.

 

[clemenx]

I loooooved the Big N' Tasty. Hope I could still get it.

 

[Dresden]

I remember the Big n' Tasty.

RIP.

 

[Birbo]

Bring back the Arch Deluxe! So good.

Side note: I find it rather odd that for years I thought McDonalds was disgusting and always went to Burger King, but over the past 5 years or so, I've totally reversed my stance.

 

[Loudninja]

Really what the hell where they thinking with the Hula Burger?

 

[Dynedom]

I loved the Arch Deluxe

.

 

[gutter_trash]

I miss the Flavor of the Month

 

[Omikaru]

McLobster? That sounds dreadful for McDonald's.

 

[Jsquared77]

I remember the arch deluxe hype. I thought it was pretty damn god when it came out, but then it was gone in the blink of an eye.

 

[Count Dookkake]

McDLT was the shit.

Hi-tech packaging FTW.

 

[Cindres]

The Arch Deluxe looks fucking tasy.

Also as far as super size meals go, anyone dumb enough to stop eating it after super size me is a complete moron. Yeah of course eating NOTHING but fast food for a month will affect you negatively, hurr fucking durr, but in moderation.

 

[Shiv47]

In my early teen years, the advertising swayed me to try the McDLT, as until then I didn't think I'd like lettuce and tomato and whatnot on my burgers. It was like a new world.

 

[B!TCH]

I can't look at the McLobster without wanting to throw up. Ugh.

McAfrika? WTF?

I KNEW McDonalds once had pizza! And now I can prove it to all the un-believers!

 

[Gouty]

McLobster? That sounds dreadful for McDonald's.

If they served this with McWine, I'd never eat anything else.

 

[Neuromancer]

*vomits*

 

[paul187]

I loved the Arch Deluxe

Me too The Big Extra was awesome too.

 

[ElectricBlanketFire]

Their biggest failure was not making this the permanent Happy Meal toy:

 

[wormstrangler]

In my early teen years, the advertising swayed me to try the McDLT, as until then I didn't think I'd like lettuce and tomato and whatnot on my burgers. It was like a new world.

Never had lettuce or tomato on your burgers? What?

 

[Machine]

McDLT and Arch Deluxe were both good. I miss them.

 

[The Omega Man]

I miss the McDLT, I was told once by some McDonald employee that it was discontinued because it was more expensive to make it than what it was sold for.

 

[Deadly Cyclone]

Fuck, we can't get any lobster here in Iowa, give me McLobster!

 

[Kabuki Quantum Lover]

I loved the Arch Deluxe

<3

 

[TheRagnCajun]

I never knew 'super size me' did so much damage to McDonald's

 

[MIMIC]

Needs more "Mc". God, this is exactly how Apple names its products...just glue a lowercase "I" in front of everything.

Anyway....I remember the Arch Deluxe. I liked it

 

[KorrZ]

Never had the Arch Deluxe but it actually sounds and looks pretty damn delicious. Not sure why it bombed?

 

[ReturnOfTheRAT]

I supersized when I used to eat McDonald's. It shouldn't be categorized as a failure though.

 

[Clydefrog]

I worked there during the reign of the Big N Tasty... was always on special and we had to discontinue it when the lettuce and tomato prices were going up due to some hurricane at the time. People ordered the shit out of that thing.

edit: I like how they talk about "super-sizing". That wasn't even the biggest size! Also, you can still get it (super sized orders), it just isn't called that anymore.

what? what was bigger than super-size? mega-ultra super-size???

 

[Dresden]

The Arch Deluxe looks fucking tasy.

Also as far as super size meals go, anyone dumb enough to stop eating it after super size me is a complete moron. Yeah of course eating NOTHING but fast food for a month will affect you negatively, hurr fucking durr, but in moderation.

Well, super size meals are an abomination anyways. Way too much fat and sugar thanks to the soda and fries.

 

[Deadly Cyclone]

Really what the hell where they thinking with the Hula Burger?

I actually was flipping channels last week and landed on CNBC that had a McDonalds documentary on.

The story behind the Hula burger is that Ray wanted something for Catholics for lent and he suggested the Hula, while one of his franchise owners suggested a fish sandwich. Ray offered the franchise owner a challenge saying whichever sold more in a trial run would be on the menu, and obviously the fish won out.

Ray didn't want fish originally because he thought it would smell up the restaurants.

 

[Gouty]

What is the deal with the McRib? I was honestly thinking there was a 50/50 shot that it'd be on this list considering it's constantly showing up and going away.

Wonder if McD's figured out that consumers love the McRib because it's rare instead of just loving the McRib itself.

Personally, McRibs are fantastic and wish they were around forever.

It's not on the list because it makes money, people like it.

As for why they take it off the menu, apparently the McRib lives and dies by its celebrated cult following. When its takes up permanent residence on the menu the novelty wears off and people stop buying it.

It think it's similar to Disney's approach to their animated films and the vault.

 

[Shiv47]

Never had lettuce or tomato on your burgers? What?

I was a picky motherfucker as a kid, let me tell you. Ketchup only, and onions if I ate White Castles.

 

[skyfinch]

I love Mcdonalds but they never give you enough Mcnapkins.

 

[Valravn]

Here in the Netherlands they have the McKroket. A 'kroket' is a Dutch snack with beef-ragout inside. The McKroket however is damn disgusting, yuck.

http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/6041/mckroket2wj3.jpg

http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/5807/mckroket3py8.jpg

 

[gar3]

I never had a McLobster but it appears to be your typical lobster roll (albeit with a lot less lobster meat, heh). I would expect this to only play in New England for obvious reasons.

And the Arch Deluxe was "my" sandwich for the time it was around. I do miss it so. Sigh.

 

[Lionel Mandrake]

I'm surprised McDonalds hasn't tried to relaunch the DLT with a more degradable cardboard container.

 

[davepoobond]

the only one that sounds weird is the Hula Burger.

the rest of those should be offered still, just not on the menu or something, or put it up as a special every now and then.


idk, i was expecting something like a sandwich that was only unmelted cheese and pickles with some secret sauce on it or some batshit insane inventions that they tried to reinvent what the word "food" meant.

 

[AbsoluteZero]

Really what the hell where they thinking with the Hula Burger?

Have you ever tried pineapple on a hamburger?

So good.