They can’t all be winners, right?
As McDonald’s brings back some of its older menu items, such as the Cheese Danish and McRib, the Golden Arches have also had it’s fair share of McFails over the years.
Here they are, in no particular order:
Mighty Wings
McDonald’s introduced chicken wings to its menu to celebrate the NFL season in 2013. The company enlisted the help of football players Joe Flacco, Colin Kaepernick and Victor Cruz to promote them.
“Mighty Wings were inspired by larger size chicken wings from McDonald’s Hong Kong where customers enjoyed the big, bold flavor,” McDonald’s said in a news release.
The wings, however, didn’t fly. Some customers called them “too spicy, expensive and unappetizing,” according to Business Insider.
McHot Dog
McDonald’s introduced the McHot Dog in 1995 at certain locations. Customers weren’t so hot on them, and they were later removed from menus in the U.S.
The late McDonald’s founder, Ray Kroc, vowed that his restaurants would never sell hot dogs, so maybe they were doomed from the start.
“There’s a damned good reason we should never have hot dogs. There’s no telling what’s inside a hot dog’s skin, and our standard of quality just wouldn’t permit that kind of item,” Kroc said in his autobiography, “Grinding It Out: The Making of McDonald’s”
The McHot Dog got a second chance at success in Japan as locations added it to their breakfast menus.
McPizza
The McPizza was introduced in 1989 as McDonald’s attempted to include a product that could compete with the likes of Pizza Hut and Domino’s, according to Mashed. It didn’t.
McSpaghetti
McDonald’s first tried its hand at Italian food with McSpaghetti in the late 1970s to give customers various food options besides burgers. Nope.
Hula Burger
Even though McDonald’s specializes in burgers, the introduction of the Hula Burger wasn’t so special. The burger combined pineapple and cheese to cater to Catholics who didn’t eat meat on Fridays during Lent. Those customers opted to get the Filet-O-Fish instead.
McLean Deluxe
The restaurant also introduced a diet-ish burger to cater to healthy eaters in 1991. The McLean Deluxe was marketed to be “91% fat-free and infused with water and seaweed extract” to make up for the less fat, according to Business Insider. It was eventually McCanceled.
McLobster
Canadian McDonald’s chains introduced the McLobster in 2013. Restaurants promised to provide “100% fresh Atlantic lobster” for $7. Customers and their stomachs didn’t respond well.
Salad Shakers
In another attempt to include healthy food options, McDonald’s introduced Salad Shakers in 2000. It came in three options: Chef, Grilled Chicken Caesar and Garden, according to mcdonalds.fandom.com. While the product wasn’t a terrible idea, people just didn’t buy them.
Big N’ Tasty
The Big N’ Tasty was supposed to compete with Burger King’s Whopper, but it never took hold. The item joined the great flame boiler in the sky in 2010.
Onion Nuggets
Believe it or not, just before McDonald’s introduced its enduring Chicken McNuggets, it rolled out Onion Nuggets in 1975. They had a relatively good run – 9 years before they were discontinued in 1984.
