McDonald’smay have mastered theart of the French fryand the juiciness of a stacked burger, but nobody’s perfect.
In its decades-long history, the fast-food giant has gone through hundreds of menu items.
Some have been massive successes (BigMac, anyone?
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And do you remember McDonald’s own Hot Pocket-like product from the early 1990s?
Arch Deluxe
There was nothing wrong with the actualArch Deluxe burgerthat McDonald’s debuted in 1996.
It had bacon, lettuce, tomato, cheese, onions, ketchup, and a secret sauce.
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The problem was the advertising, which McDonald’s famouslyspent over $200 millionon.
The company even launched a commercial featuring twoyoung rappers saying “yuck"when they saw the Arch Deluxe.
Wrong move, Mickey D’s!
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But at least it brought us thiscommercialfeaturing a young Jessica Biel.
The sandwich, which launched in 1991, was purported to be lighter than a Big Mac.
McDonald’s used seaweed extract as a binder to create the 91 percent fat-free burger.
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As a result, the McLean was dubbed the McFlopper, according toThe Times.
In 1989,McDonald’s started slowly introducing pizzato its menu to attract more dinnertime customers.
According to aMcDonald’s adat the time, it was only available after 4 p.m.
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But Mickey D’s pizza was doomed to fail.
“I ordered it at the drive-thru window and then parked my car.
About 10 minutes later, it was brought to my car,” one customer wroteon his blog.
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But apparently Dunkin' pizza didn’t catch on either…
The dish was eventually removed from McDonald’s menus.
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Luckily, Cincinnati McDonald’s franchise owner Lou Groen had come up with the Filet-O-Fish instead.
He brought the idea to Kroc, who challenged Groen to a friendly competition.
But I’m going to put my special sandwich on, too.
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“Friday came and the word came out.
I won hands down.
I sold 350 fish sandwiches that day.
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Ray never did tell me how his sandwich did.”
(According toSmithsonianmagazine, only six Hula Burgers sold.)
After that, it was time to say “aloha” to Kroc’s invention.
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The product was tested in 1995 during the summer, but it never caught on.
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Will customers craving a quarter-pounder with cheese opt for a 3.5-ounce crab cake sandwich instead?
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“Baltimore SunreporterDan Rodricks wondered.
The answer was no.
The McCrab couldn’t come close to competing with the local fare, and it didn’t last long.
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In the late 1970s,McDonald’s introduced McSpaghettito little fanfare.
Think of them like the inside of an onion ring.
The easy way to makehealthier comfort foods.
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However, the high-quality burger came at a pricenearly $4, actually.
In 2013, less than a decade after its debut, the Angus Burger just couldn’t keep up.
(The name was supposed to be McD + L for lettuce and T for tomatoes.)
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But in the early 1990s, people started to learn about the harmful effects of Styrofoam on the environment.
After getting so many complaints, McDonald’s discontinued the McDLT.
And for more fast-food failures, don’t miss these25 Fast-Food Restaurants You’ll Never Eat in Again.
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But lobster doesn’t come cheap.
Still, lobster’s biggest fans aren’t buying it.
But it’s all good for Mickey D’s.
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“Even these failures are tremendous successes,” food historianAndrew Smith toldChristian Science Monitor.
McAfrika
The McAfrika was one ofMcDonald’s biggest failsof all time.
As a result, the product did not go over well with the public.
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“McDonald’s must see that the launch has not been successful.”
However, the corporation still let the sandwich run its intended course.
The cups of salad that you shook up to distribute dressing evenly hit menus in 2000.
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It was McDonald’s way of capitalizing on the trend of bringing your salad with you on the go.
“Who’s shaking up everything you know about salads?”
Unfortunately, the Slurpee-looking salad cups weren’t particularly appealing to McDonald’s customers.
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Unfortunately, this healthy menu item was taken off the menu during the pandemic and has not returned.
Mighty Wings
Ah, the Mighty Wings.
They’ve had a rough road at McDonald’s.
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Then, in September 2013, they were supposed to make a triumphant return.
But the wings turned out to be less than mighty.
The problem was both the pricing and the spicing.
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In 2016, the wings had a small renaissance in McDonald’s all over Atlanta.
Perhaps the company still had some leftover chicken.
McStuffins
If you know any preschoolers, you’ve probably heard of the Disney Junior showDoc McStuffins.
The stuffed small French baguettes came in four flavors, including chicken teriyaki and pepperoni pizza.
Acommercialtouted them as “the greatest thing since sliced bread.”
But that didn’t turn out to be the case: McStuffins McBombed.
They were gone from McDonald’s menus faster than you could heat up a Hot Pocket.
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The fast-food chain served sliced beef on a sesame seed roll with barbecue sauce on the side.
It’s been gone for more than half a century now.
Nevertheless, McDonald’s sold its own version of the popular dish in 1993.
In 2013, someone launched a Change.org petition tobring the fajitas back.
But in the early 2000s, McDonald’s tried to change things up with the Spanish Omelette Bagel.
It was simply ham, cheese, and egg on a bagel with some Spanish spices.
Unfortunately, it didn’t take off and was removed after a very short run.
“Hope you find a new favorite!”
(It was part of the same Disney-McDonald’s deal that led to theSzechuan sauce disasterof 1998.)
But in 2011, it ended up getting phased out in favor of newer products.
As they say, all good things must come to an end.
This article was originally published in March 2019.
It has been updated with new information.
