Tonight's menu features a variety of McFails,
with a side order of poor marketing choices.
"Then look at McDonalds' new McDLT!"
"I'm talking quarter pounder beef on the hot, hot side!"
"The new McDLT!"
"Hot, hot!"
Welcome to WatchMojo.com and today,
we're counting down our picks for the "Top 10 Failed McDonald's Products."
"When you need to make a good impression, it's the ideal choice."
"Big and meaty with the perfect kick!"
For this list,
we'll be looking at some of the most unsuccessful menu items,
that the fast food restaurant chain has offered throughout its existence.
However, we're excluding any failed non-food products, the company may have developed.
"A great new taste for you!"
"A toasted French roll, it's gonna taste great too!"
McDonald's Fillet-o-Fish can be a hit or miss item with most consumers,
but at least it's reminiscent of the familiar frozen fish sticks most people ate as kids.
"The best selling fish sandwich in America."
"Tell them your nickname, Henry..."
"They call me Jaws."
That being said,
it seems most clients would prefer that McDonald's stay away from seafood.
The strange concoction called the "McGratin Croquette,"
feels like the end result of a Chopped basket of secret ingredients gone wrong.
The Gura Koro, as it's known in Japan,
consists of ground shrimp, mashed potatoes, and deep fried macaroni,
all mushed together into a pattie.
Smother it in mystery brown sauce
and you've got yourself a culinary misadventure.
It was designed specifically for Japanese markets.
But guess what?
Japan was not interested.
Apparently the odd marketing didn't help either.
*Singing and talking in Japanese*
"So tell me what happened..."
"We were playing for the mighty wings."
More like, "Mighty Unpopular."
According to most reviewers and consumers,
there was nothing spectacularly bad about these wings,
they were just... unremarkable.
"Some, though, found the crispy "Mighty Wings" closer to fried chicken than to real buffalo wing."
McDonald's is a juggernaut in the fast food world,
and every so often they try to branch out to corner another end of the market.
"But just in time for football season,
McDonald's is getting serious with real chicken wings called,
Mighty Wings."
But with so many tried and true choices out there for delicious chicken wings,
you can't blame consumers for continuing to take their business elsewhere on game night.
Sales numbers were so poor,
that McDonald's lowered the price from an average of $1 per wing to 60 cents.
This was allegedly done,
in order to liquidate the 10 million surplus wings they had left in stock,
when it became clear that the product had flopped.
"One bite and you'll never give them up!"
"New Mighty Wings from McDonald's!"
"Only McDonald's puts it all together. 100% pure beef!"
The late 70's were an exciting period of innovation in American pop culture history,
Steve Jobs founded Apple Computers,
Garfield the cat made his comic strip debut,
Sony introduced the first Walkman,
and Space Invaders was released.
McDonald's, not wanting to be left out, prepared to unveil the "Chopped Beefsteak Sandwich,"
and, for the most part, it was deemed delicious.
Unfortunately, as is so often the case with ground breaking new products,
it reportedly priced itself out of reach of the average consumer.
Apparently ringing up at $1.29 to the regular burgers' 40 cents.
Many fast foodies lucky enough to try it in the early 80's,
remember it as one of the greatest sandwiches to ever touch their palettes.
But the steep price made it too hard to swallow,
even after McDonald's tried throwing in a free dessert.
"Nobody can do it like McDonald's can! Nobody."
Hotdogs or hamburgers?
That's the question most commonly asked at a summer BBQ.
So don't hotdogs seem like a guarantee success for any major fast food franchise?
Well, Mickey D's and hotdogs have had a long and complicated history.
In fact, the McDonald's corporation founder Ray Krok,
banned hotdogs from his restaurants, because there's no way to know what's inside them.
Following his death in 1984 however,
a number of attempts have been mad to introduce hotdogs in one form or another,
to the McDonald's menu in select American and UK markets.
"Hotdogs are hot again, and they're new at McDonald's!"
But, time and time again they just failed to catch on.
There's even been an attempt to market a chilli McHotdog in Japan.
Urgh...the horror.
"We're here because the McLean Deluxe is 100% delicious!"
Two words that don't add up:
McDonald's and sophisticated.
Two other words tough to pair in a sentence:
McDonald's and healthy.
"If it's low fat, it can't be delicious..."
The "Deluxe" line aimed to corner the adult fast food market,
by presenting an entire line of sophisticated McDonald's products,
including this supposedly healthy, low-fat burger.
It achieved the lower fat content,
by using about 90% lean beef in its patties,
and adding water to replace the missing fat.
"It's 91% fat free but all people talk about is its big burger taste."
But how would they bind it all together?
Seaweed to the rescue!
Carrageenan, a seaweed extract is a common thickening or binding agent,
used in the processed food industry.
Mouth not watering yet?
This dry burger, was deemed to be lacking flavour despite flavour additives,
and thus earned itself the nickname, "McFlopper."
"McLean Deluxe, forget the fat, remember the taste at McDonald's today."
"Sorry Green, Green."
It's hard to believe that anyone at McDonald's had faith in this product.
Don't people go out for fast food,
because they don't feel like having spaghetti for the 3rd time that week?
"Are you serious? Spaghetti?"
"Since when don't you like spaghetti and meatballs?"
McDonald's tried in Italy,
and, unsurprisingly, it'd bombed.
Nothing sells quite like a country's most cherished and widely available dish,
as poorly prepared by an American fast food chain.
"It's a benefit Bobby, it's a spaghetti dinner!"
"But we don't make spaghetti."
America was equally disinterested.
It took too long to prepare, lacked flavour,
and simply couldn't satisfy the cravings that drive people to McDonald's in the first place.
They wanted "fast" food.
"I thought I told you Bob, you and your spaghetti aren't welcome here."
The weirdest thing about the McSpaghetti though,
it was a surprise hit in the Philippines, and is still available there today.
"This almost tastes like...
spaghetti with ketchup, I'm going to have another spoonful here."
"That's that Hawaiian burger joint,
I hear they got some tasty burgers."
This one was bad,
like REALLY bad.
While many McDonald's products,
have failed over the years, due to pricing or marketing issues,
the Hula Burger was simply a bad sandwich.
Ray Krok may have turned a handful of restaurants,
into the world's largest fast food franchise,
but his pineapple burger was one Hul of a bad idea.
Previously, strict catholics would not eat meat on Fridays,
so the company thought they could capitalize on that demographic,
with this meatless sandwich.
Turns out that the Fillet O' Fish was more desirable,
than a slice of grilled pineapple and cheese.
The Hula Burger was pulled from restaurants shortly after its debut.
"He calls 'em my Hawaiian burgers,
but they don't taste like burgers at all, they taste like styrofoam."
It was a burger wrapped in pita bread,
sold exclusively in Norway, and in honor of the Olympics.
But consider the fact, that Southern Africa was suffering from one of the worst food shortages,
in the history of the region in 2002,
with an estimated 14 million people in urgent need of food aid,
and you'll see that the bad taste wasn't necessarily in the burger itself,
but in the choice of name and timing.
McDonald's addressed the issue by apologising,
and by allowing humanitarian aid agencies to put up posters and donation boxes in their locations.
They did not, however, stop selling the product until September of that year,
and then they released another one in 2008 for the Beijing Olympics,
again to heavy criticism.
"Well, what do you want Michael?"
"A McDLT?"
"No, I already told you they don't make those anymore."
"You know, sometimes it's a regional thing. You could ask."
"No McDonald's anywhere makes a McDLT anymore."
When it comes to failed fast food sandwiches, this is the stuff of legend.
We could describe it to you, but we'd rather let Jason Alexander do the talking.
"The beef stays hot, the cool stays crisp, put it together, you can't resist!"
"This could be the best lettuce and tomato hamburger ever!"
The fact that they went through the trouble,
and extra Styrofoam to build this dual chamber hamburger containment system,
just to keep the tomato and lettuce cool and crisp is commendable,
but so unnecessary.
Furthermore, people get fast food on the go,
when they want something quick, easy, and ready to eat.
Trying to combine the two halves of the burger without losing the toppings,
might not be rocket science,
but it's still enough work to undermine the core principles of fast food.
"I'm just saying they have all the ingredients for McDL...*BEEP*"
Even the talented Aretha Franklin couldn't convince customers.
"Could be the best tasting lettuce and tomato hamburger ever.
New McDLT, McDLT!"
Before we unveil our number 1 pick, here are some honorable mentions.
"The Son of Mac for just $2.50, it's the taste of a Big Mac in a snack."
"The stone ground mustard sauce, mmm...
The soft, comforting potato roll, I'm in the zone."
"Luckily some things are good and true,
like the McDonald's family sized Pepperoni pizza."
In the late 80s, McDonald's had about 40% of the American burger market,
but sales consistently lagged around suppertime.
Pizza mega-franchises, like Pizza Hut, simply ruled dinner,
but, Mickey D's had already won breakfast,
and were committed to claiming all three meals.
Though they had test marketed personal sized pizzas in the late 70s,
the following years saw them introduce various pizza sizes in various locations,
including the pizza pocket style McPizza, which (has already) failed.
But with their fresh made, oven baked pizza, they were going all in.
*Repeated singing* McDonald's pizza
The pizza was relatively well received, but the wait time was not.
For a franchise that conquered on a campaign of speedy service, this was a deal breaker.
"For the first time ever, he'll make dinner for his family."
Pizza was a wrench in the well-greased gears of the McDonald's kitchen.
By the end of the 90's,
the McDonald's pizza dream was essentially dead.
Though some restaurants were still serving up some type of pizza until 2000,
with some reports even saying that two restaurants in the US,
still offer the dish in one form or another.
"No dessert for me mum, I don't deserve it."
"Family sized pepperoni pizza, it's a parent's dream come true."
Do you agree with our list?
What's the biggest McFailed menu item in your opinion?
For more odd top 10s published every day,
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"It's a good time for the great taste of McDonald's. New McD-L-T!"