McDonald’s was first founded in 1940 and since then it’s grown to having over 37,000
restaurants worldwide.
Millions of people around the world are familiar with the company’s iconic golden arches.
McDonald’s biggest market though is the United States, where it was founded.
To appeal to its large audience, McDonald’s offers a huge array of menu items (over 100!),
and there’s been a lot of changes on it throughout the years.
Unfortunately, this constant evolution leads to some people's favorite items being discontinued
and replaced with something new.
Here’s the top 10 McDonald’s items that actually would make America great again.
Southern Style Chicken Burger
McDonald’s is well known for its burgers and the restaurant currently features 14 different
burgers, either made of chicken, beef, or fish.
A lot of burgers have come and gone throughout the years but there are some that people miss
more than others, An example of this is the Southern Style Buttermilk Crispy Chicken Sandwich,
which made its debut back in 2005.
Although many people liked the burger and it had generally good reviews, the sales were
never the best so the burger was discontinued in 2015.
The burger is made out of a classic McDonald’s bun that it buttered with a hint of dill flavoring.
In between these two buttered buns is a thick piece of crispy chicken breast filet.
On top of this are tangy pickles.
McDonald’s still carries 8 different variations of chicken burgers but none of them are quite
the same as the Southern Style Crispy Chicken.
The closest thing to it on the menu right now is an item called the Classic Chicken
Sandwich, which is almost the same as the Southern Style Chicken Burger, as it contains
chicken and pickles but instead of having a dill flavored buttered bun, it’s topped
with a tangy and sweet Signature Sauce, a relatively new sauce that’s also available
in the form of a chicken nugget dipping sauce.
Arch Deluxe
McDonald’s strongly markets itself towards children, especially through the use of Happy
Meals, mascots, and of course the indoor playgrounds in restaurants.
So in 1996, McDonald’s decided it needed to start marketing itself to an older audience.
In May of that year, the restaurant released a burger called the Arch Deluxe, which was
specifically marketed towards an adult audience.
The burger was part of one of the most expensive advertising campaigns ever seen from the restaurant,
but it did not live up to the hype, and was discontinued only a year later due to poor
sales.
The burger was supposed to much more sophisticated than the average McDonald’s burger, but
part of the problem with it is that no one is going to McDonald’s for a gourmet meal.
The Arch Deluxe was made from a quarter pound of beef on a potato flour sesame bun, instead
of the usual plain one.
On top of the quarter pounder was lettuce, tomato, a slice of cheese, a piece of peppered
bacon, onions, ketchup, and a sauce made of a mixture of mustard and mayonnaise that McDonald’s
called a secret sauce.
Even though the burger got bad reactions, mostly because of the advertising used, it
sounds like it would taste pretty good so it’s no wonder there’s people who want
it to be brought back.
Onion Nuggets
One of the most iconic menu items from McDonald’s is the chicken McNugget.
But before the nuggets were released in 1983, there was another kind of nugget on the scene.
In the early 1970s, onion nuggets were released as a part of the dollar menu and designed
to be a side to the beefsteak sandwich, which was also quickly discontinued along with the
onion nuggets in 1979 (although they did make some stand alone reappearances in the 80’s).
There’s nothing similar to these being sold today, other than chicken nuggets, as McDonald’s
doesn’t even sell onion rings, which is slightly strange for a fast food joint.
Onion rings are a classic fast food item that have been sold at various restaurants since
the early 20th century.
McDonald’s must have thought that rings were too mainstream and went with the nugget
shape instead.
The onion nuggets were made from diced onions that were then breaded and deep fried like
a chicken nugget.
The product honestly sounds delicious and it’s a surprise that it was discontinued
so fast.
Many people agree that this is a menu item that should be brought back to McDonald’s
today, so hopefully we’ll see them back some day soon.
McPizza
McDonald’s is mostly known for its quick and easy foods that can picked up in the middle
of the day for a quick lunch.
But in the 1980s, the restaurant decided that it needed to expand its horizons and try creating
a menu item that could be enjoyed as a sit down dinner with family.
So in 1989, McDonald’s decided to break into the fast food dinner category by releasing
a line of pizzas.
Even though the pizza apparently tasted pretty good, there were several issues surrounding
the product that made sales quite rough.
Firstly, McDonald’s is known as a restaurant where you can pick up food quickly.
McDonald’s claimed that this was the same for its pizza, but in reality it took an average
of 11 minutes for a customer to receive the pizza they bought.
Along with this there was also the concern of the drive-throughs.
Many of the drive-through windows at McDonald’s locations weren’t big enough to fit a pizza
box through, so customers would have to go inside the building if they wanted any.
There were also some concerns about the freshness of the ingredients used in the pizza, and
whether or not it lived up to the quality of local pizzerias.
The McDonald’s pizza was discontinued only a few years after being released in the majority
of locations.
Until 2017, when the pizza was cancelled for good, there were two locations in the US who
continued to sell the rare menu item.
Sadly today the pizza is gone from all locations, so we’ll just have to hope it returns one
day.
McStuffins
Certain McDonald’s items don’t even get placed on the official menu.
Sometimes they just get tested in select locations before either being passed on to the official
menu or never being seen again.
Some really good products have never made it past the testing stage, which is unfortunate
because they sound pretty good.
An example of this is a product called the McStuffin that was tested in select locations
around the US in 1993.
The McStuffin was essentially a rip off Hot Pocket.
They were made of French bread filled up with things like chicken or pepperoni.
This sounds delicious but honestly, the stuffed sandwiches didn’t look the most appealing,
even in advertisements where products are usually edited to look better.
There was also a lack of marketing surrounding the product, which is probably why the McStuffin
didn’t pass the testing stage.
Sadly, after less than a year, the McStuffin was discontinued.
Now that McDonald’s has expanded its horizons and started selling things other than just
hamburgers and fries though, maybe it would be a good time to bring this hot sandwich
back.
Fish McBites
Currently the only fish item on the McDonald’s menu is the Filet-O-Fish, and it’s been
a part of the menu since 1962.
The success of this product inspired McDonald’s to try out other fish products throughout
the years, including the Fish McBites, released in 2013.
The Fish McBites were released in honour of Lent, so that people participating would have
something to eat at the restaurant.
The Fish McBites were a spin-off of the Chicken McBites that had a limited release the year
before.
The Fish McBites were made from the same Alaskan Cod as the Filet-O-Fish and were wrapped in
a batter similar to a chicken nugget.
They were sold in three different sizes and a Happy Meal option.
This was the first new item on the Happy Meal menu in over a decade and it was thought that
kids would love the Fish McBites because of the fact that you can dip them in sauce.
Though the item was supposed to be seasonal, the plan was to bring them back if the sales
were good.
Unfortunately, the sales were poor so the product was pulled from the menu pretty quickly
after the release.
Hopefully they’ll be back for another seasonal release soon.
McHotdogs
Hotdogs are a classic fast food item and you’ve probably asked yourself why McDonald’s,
one of the biggest fast food chains in the world, doesn’t sell them.
Believe it or not, McDonald’s did used to sell the fast food.
In 1995, the McHotdog was released in some parts of America as a summer item.
They were then introduced to the UK as a seasonal item, and then they were sold in Canada.
Toronto, Ontario’s SkyDome (now known as the Rogers Centre) sold the McHotdog during
baseball games until 1999.
After that, the McHotdog completely disappeared from North America until 2007, when it was
introduced as a seasonal item in several Pennsylvania locations.
The reason McDonald’s went so long as a fast food joint without selling any hot dogs
is because of a man named Ray Kroc.
After the McDonald’s brothers founded the franchise, Ray Kroc took over in 1954 and
helped globalize the corporation.
Ray Kroc actually completely prohibited the company from selling hot dogs because he was
scared that they weren’t good enough quality for the restaurant.
So after his death, McDonald’s took the opportunity to try finally selling hot dogs.
Apparently the hot dogs were actually really good and there’s still many people who want
them to be brought back, but there are currently no locations left in the US that sell them.
If you’re willing to travel for one though, there are still McHotdogs on the menu at some
locations in Japan.
Mighty Wings
Another classic fast food that McDonald’s doesn’t sell is chicken wings.
Chicken wings are loved by many people so it’s no surprise that McDonald’s decided
it needed to step up and start selling them.
In 2012, the company did a test run for its Mighty Wings and even though the sales were
not the best, the product was released nationwide the next year.
McDonald’s has a large array of chicken products so it was about time that the chicken
wings were released.
Mighty Wings were made out of fried battered covered chicken wings and were sold in three
different sizes, and came with dipping sauces similar to what the McNuggets come with, such
as buffalo, sweet n’ sour, hot mustard, and more.
According to reviews, the wings tasted pretty good, though they were a bit too spicy for
some people's tastes, so you might be asking why they were discontinued in only a year
after their release.
This most likely has to do with the price of the wings.
3 wings were $3.19, 5 were $4.99, and 10 for $9.69.
These are unusually high prices for a McDonald’s and there are plenty of other restaurants
that serve fried chicken wings for a much lower price.
To compare, you could buy 20 McNuggets for the same price as 5 wings, which is a lot
more chicken.
If McDonald’s ever does bring back the Mighty Wings, hopefully it’ll know to lower the
prices a bit.
McSalad Shakers
McDonald’s is not exactly known as a healthy restaurant.
Most of its menu items are fried, oily, and full of fat, so it’s not the best choice
for anyone who’s trying to follow a healthy diet.
McDonald’s was aware of this so in 2000, it decided to introduce the franchise’s
first ever salad option, the McSalad shaker.
This was made in an attempt to reel in a whole new audience to the restaurant, one that was
much more health conscious than the usual consumers, but unfortunately the sales of
the salads did not go very well, so the item was discontinued soon after their release.
The McSalad shakers were salads stuffed into plastic cups that resemble the ones you get
when you order a smoothie or a frappuccino, so that you’d be able to shake the cups
to mix your dressing onto the salad.
The salads were sold in three different varieties: chef, garden, and grilled chicken caesar.
It’s a shame that the McSalad shakers never really took off, but in 2003 McDonald’s
released its line of Premium Salads to replace them.
But let’s be real here, eating salad out of a bowl instead of a shakeable plastic cup
just isn’t as fun, so we just have to hope that the McSalad Shakers will be brought back
some day.
Big N’ Tasty
McDonald’s specialty is of course, hamburgers.
There are currently 15 different variations of hamburgers on the menu and a lot of them
have come and gone throughout the years.
And being one of the largest fast food companies in the world, McDonald’s has quite a bit
of competition with other fast food giants.
So in 1997, McDonald’s decided to start testing a new hamburger that was created to
compete with the Whopper Sandwich from Burger King.
The burger, called the Big N’ Tasty, made it through the testing process and was released
to the US market in 2000.
The Big N’ Tasty was composed of the exact same things as the Burger King Whopper Sandwich:
a quarter pounder beef patty on a sesame seed bun, topped with slivered onions, lettuce,
tomato, pickle slices, mayonnaise, and ketchup.
The burger spent a few years on the dollar menu, which made it a popular item.
Sales of the hamburger were originally great, but worsened over the years, leading to the
product to be pulled from the American menu in January of 2011.
Luckily though, the burger is available under the name Big Tasty in several international
locations such as Canada, South Korea, Brazil, France, and many more.
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