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Twelve McDonald's Menu Items That Failed Spectactularly

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TommyT

Member
Clydefrog said:
what? what was bigger than super-size? mega-ultra super-size???

"Humongo-size" was what it was called. You could get fries or a drink in a 44oz cup and that is how you would ask for it. They also used to have 50 piece buckets of chicken nuggets.

I don't think you can get the two 20 piece nuggets, fries, and drinks anymore either. Nuggets used to come in different amounts than they do now. Chicken strips used to be MUCH MUCH MUCH more tasty (and expensive), etc. I've been through a lot of their changes.
 
Not sure why it bombed?
I'm guessing it's because "Advertisements depicted children disgusted with the burger".

While it makes sense at first, "Well, kids just aren't into adult food", the message that probably got conveyed instead was, "Kids will eat any sort of garbage, and if they don't like this burger, then why would an adult like it?"

EDIT: Oh, and if it had a secret sauce in it, it starts to raise questions as to what the 'secret sauce' is made of.
 
clemenx said:
I loooooved the Big N' Tasty. Hope I could still get it.

Never cared much for it, but the name had hilarious potential for dropped sign letter exploitation. I once saw a sign proclaiming "the Big N' asty", which of course sounds like the dump you'd take after eating one.

I really miss 2 things from mcd's, the bbq chicken sandwiches which were actually awesome, and mcsalad shakers with ceaser dressing. It was a salad in a cup which you'd pour dressing into, then shake the fuck out of it and enjoy. It was a semi-elegant solution to the long standing problem of unequal dressing distribution.
 
Cindres said:
The Arch Deluxe looks fucking tasy.

It was. I think it was more a marketing disaster than anything else. Should have abandoned the "only for adults" angle and just sold it as a new tasty burger.
 

StoOgE

First tragedy, then farce.
McDLT wasn't a failure AFAIK. They just started making burgers fresh so they didn't need it anymore.
 
The Mc Croquette is still pretty popular in a lot of European countries. I had one a couple of years ago in Amsterdam. As for the others, I see them come and go all the time by my house. We live near the Oakbrook, IL McDonalds HQ, and a lot of those experimental menu items seem to make their way into local McDonalds.
 
TommyT said:
"Humongo-size" was what it was called. You could get fries or a drink in a 44oz cup and that is how you would ask for it. They also used to have 50 piece buckets of chicken nuggets.
Wow, really? McDonalds in bulk?
 
Mr. B Natural said:
Wow, really? McDonalds in bulk?

I'm not a huge fast food guy. But about once a year, I have to buy one of these badboys:

11_CraveCase.JPG-757940.jpg
 
I had the McLobster. It was good. Honestly, haven't you guys heard of lobster rolls?

The McDLT was good. I always hated styrofoam packaging, though. It makes everything soggy if you don't open it right away.

I've had McPizza, and it was really good.

MIMIC said:
Needs more "Mc". God, this is exactly how Apple names its products...just glue a lowercase "I" in front of everything.
I try and make a point to not call anything "Mc-" if I can get away with it. "Nuggets", "Chicken Sandwich", etc.
 
ReturnOfTheRAT said:
I supersized when I used to eat McDonald's. It shouldn't be categorized as a failure though.
Good point, it probably made them a ton of money while it lasted even though they had to stop it for PR reasons.
 
DMPrince said:
Supersize was awesome. would always get it because i enjoy the fries lol.

I used to like Supersize because it meant I could get one value meal and whomever I was with could just get a sandwich then we'd split the drink & fries.
 

Retro

Member
Hmm.... I distinctly remember getting little personal pan-sized pizzas at McDonalds as late as 1995, though it seemed to be limited to the Upper Midwest and Rockies (Iowa to Colorado).

It was a godsend because we were on a family vacation, spending a lot of time in the car, and I don't eat red meat. I was sick of eating Mc 'Grilled Cheese sandwiches' which were two buns, flipped inside with cheese on it. Getting a little personal pizza in the car? Fuck yeah.

They actually tasted a lot like the little Red Baron Deep Dish singles.

(And in case anyone is wondering, I liked Fillet-o-Fish and still do, but one time they put Tartar Sauce on it despite my request and it turned me off them for several years. Blech).

AbsoluteZero said:
I used to like Supersize because it meant I could get one value meal and whomever I was with could just get a sandwich then we'd split the drink & fries.

Yep, Super Size was always "Well, it's cheaper than ordering two mediums". It was also nice on road trips because inevitably you'd eat the sandwich and still have a ton of drink left over (and cold fries, if you could tolerate them). Super Size = Less stops...
 

Derrick01

Banned
DMPrince said:
Supersize was awesome. would always get it because i enjoy the fries lol.

Yup, dunno why they got rid of it because a guy ate nothing but that for a month. Of fucking course it's unhealthy but no normal human eats it that much.
 

Petrie

Banned
Gouty said:
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.

I've also heard they only offer it when they can get the ingredients at a certain price level to make the item worth carrying, and it just can't be done on a consistent basis.
 
Derrick01 said:
Yup, dunno why they got rid of it because a guy ate nothing but that for a month. Of fucking course it's unhealthy but no normal human eats it that much.

You'd be surprised how many people subsist on a diet consisting solely of fast foods.
 
Hasphat'sAnts said:
Our campus' McDonald's give you a free 2 gallon jug of sweet tea if you ordered 50 nuggets.

Very popular item on Friday nights
"Give" as in present tense? I find it strange they would still do this but got rid of the tame in comparison "super-size" concept. But I guess it's all about that marketing and name recognition.

And I can't stand the smell of 1 white castle. Can't imagine what your house will smell like after eating all those, man. Don't get near me haha.

^because it backfired horribly and thus failed spectacularly?
 

DarthWoo

I'm glad Grandpa porked a Chinese Muslim
When I worked there in the late 90s they tried marketing soup. It basically just came in frozen containers, and you dumped it into a big slow cooker type thing. The soup really wasn't all that bad, and actually sold decently in the really cold months, but I guess it just wasn't really much of a seller overall. I can't remember all the different kinds, but there was at least chicken noodle and broccoli cheese.
 

Vanillalite

Ask me about the GAF Notebook
Birbo said:
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.

McDonalds decided to get it's shit in order. Not say it's all good or that the McCafe is Starbucks at McDonalds or anything. Yet it seemed corporate wide to try and slightly up the food quality while redoing the look of all of their franchised restaurants. McDonalds by me is now far and away the best fast food of the big nationwide chains. Looks nicer, feels cleaner, has a shit ton of people working in there, can always tell who the manager is, and the food seems to be slightly better. BK is the opposite. Restaurant feels old inside, not that clean, not nearly enough people working, always wondering where the manager is to run the show, and the food quality is meh.

PS: Arch Deluxe was legit!
 
RedNumberFive said:
I'm not a huge fast food guy. But about once a year, I have to buy one of these badboys:

cravecase.jpg


Hahaha. I think that qualifies you as a "huge fast food guy", ipso facto.

I do love me some White Castle though. I ain't knockin' it.
 

Alucrid

Banned
Mr. B Natural said:
"Give" as in present tense? I find it strange they would still do this but got rid of the tame in comparison "super-size" concept. But I guess it's all about that marketing and name recognition.

And I can't stand the smell of 1 white castle. Can't imagine what your house will smell like after eating all those, man. Don't get near me haha.

^because it backfired horribly and thus failed spectacularly?

It worked great until it didn't.
 
Joe Shlabotnik said:
Hahaha. I think that qualifies you as a "huge fast food guy", ipso facto.

I do love me some White Castle though. I ain't knockin' it.

Point taken, but to be fair, I split it with a few friends. The colon blow that would result from eating a whole case would likely kill me.
 

Vandiger

Member
McDLT(hot&cold sensation) and Arch Deluxe were some awesome burgers and the McPizza was suprisingly good. Oh well, haven't eaten at a McDonald's since the late-90's.
 

bill0527

Member
The Arch Deluxe and the McDLT were really pretty good.

The McDLT was a really great idea if they could come up with different packaging. I like the idea of having my lettuce, tomato, and pickle cold and the rest of the sandwich hot. To this day that's why I can't stand eating at Burger King. Every single Burger King in my area assembles the sandwich all together, then sticks it in the microwave for 45 seconds. There's nothing worse than hot tomatoes, hot lettuce, and hot pickles.
 

LProtag

Member
I remember stopping by one of those rest-stop McDonalds after playing a show in NYC and driving home. My friend is looking around the menu at like 3 in the morning, we're all tired as shit and my other friend didn't bring in his glasses so he's trying to read off stuff that he can get. "Well there's the Big Mac... Quarter Pounder... the Big 'n Nasty." It was pretty funny at the time, but the message is clearly that anything McDonalds puts out is going to be considered gross.
 

Vieo

Member
I wonder if the McLobster contains real lobster meat or if it's imitation meat. Speaking of imitation seafood, those fried crab sticks you find in Chinese food restaurants are tasty. I'll never know what they're made out of though, because I'm too lazy to google it.
 

Eric C

Member
TommyT said:
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.

I don't think you still can, I just checked the McDonalds online menu and I don't see any "Super Size" sizes


wiki says the "Super Size" sizes were 7oz Fries and 42oz beverages.


McDonalds only has 5.4oz Fries and 32oz beverages listed on the website.


Unless it's unadvertised, I haven't been in a McDonalds in years.
 
Alucrid said:
It worked great until it didn't.
Yes, it worked great until it failed spectacularly. You can have a huge success that fails spectacularly in the end. Time is not unified. The beginning can be one thing, the end another. They're called one hit wonders, they're called ponsy (sp?) schemes, they're called a lot of things for a lot of situations and it can happen in marketing if it backfires. There are too many rags to riches and riches to rags stories to name.
 
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