We ain’t lovin’ it.
Fast food chains will spend tens of thousands of dollars just so they can come up with something new that’ll get customers hooked. But it doesn’t always work out.
While messing around with your menu can bring about great things like the Big Mac or the Whopper, sometimes they make mistakes that will have you scratching your head thinking, why did they do this?
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Whether it’s questionable marketing or health-related hazards, these menu items were rightfully pulled from the menu. So here are the 10 biggest fast food failures of all time.
10. McDLT – McDonald’s
In theory, the McDLT sounds like it’s a good idea. After all, it was just your typical burger. What made this product fail was its packaging. It was packaged in a styrofoam container that was designed to keep the hot parts hot and the cool parts cool. Basically, the meat half of the burger was in one compartment and the vegetable half was in another. Obviously, this had a lot of concerns considering that this was very bad for the environment. Apart from this, most McDonald’s at the time didn’t have the special heating equipment needed to serve this meal in the intended temperature. So most of the time, customers were just served with a lukewarm burger.
9. ⅓-Pound Burger – A&W Restaurants
Back in the 80s, A&W Restaurants decided to challenge McDonald’s and their Quarter Pounder with a burger of their own. Enter the Third Pound Burger. Basic math would tell you that this is actually bigger than a quarter pounder. But the majority of people didn’t see it that way. Market research showed that customers preferred the quarter pounder because they thought that it was the bigger burger. A&W wasn’t about to take the L though, so while the Third Pound burger failed, they rebranded it and re-released as the 3/9 pound burger.
8. Frescata Sandwich – Wendy’s
The fresh sandwich craze was in full swing by the mid 2000s and Wendy’s decided to hop on the trend. They came out with their own line of made to order deli sandwiches for people who wanted an alternative from the greasier options on their menu. Customers actually loved the sandwiches and became fan favorites. But unfortunately, they took way too long to prepare which defeats the purpose of Wendy’s being a fast food chain. So in 2007, they decided to have the Frescata Sandwich removed from their menu.
7. Fish McBites – McDonald’s
Despite having arguably one of the catchiest jingles of all time, the Fish McBites didn’t really sell well. Made from the same ingredients as the Filet-o-fish but in bite sized form, the Fish McBites didn’t sound like a bad idea. It’s essentially McNuggets but made with fish instead of chicken. McDonald’s added this to their list of “meatless” offerings in February 2013, but was discontinued just two months after its release. At least, we’ll always have Fishy Fishy Groove to remember it by.
6. Big Catch Meal – Long John Silver’s
We can’t have a list of fast food blunders and not mention what has been dubbed the ‘Worst Restaurant Meal in America’ by the Center for Science in the Public Interest. Long John Silver’s are famous for their fast seafood meals. So in 2013, they decided to serve a meal with everything the ocean has to offer. Well, not exactly everything. It had a 7.5 ounce piece of deep fried fish, hush puppies, and onion rings. This artery clogging meal contained an unhealthy amount of calories and had more trans fats than an average person should be allowed to consume in two weeks! Good thing they swiftly removed this from their menu and forced Long John Silver’s to switch to a healthier alternative for their frying oil.
5. The Arch Deluxe – McDonald’s
McDonald’s has dominated the fast food industry for a long time and with that stretch of dominance, came a few misfires. The Arch Deluxe is one of the company’s biggest failures. McDonald’s actually spent over $300 million in marketing just to get the general public interested. Originally billed as a premium, gourmet style burger for adults, the Arch Deluxe wasn’t well received by customers. To most people, this was just a more expensive burger. Why would they go for the Arch Deluxe when they can go for a classic Big Mac? Fast food fine dining wasn’t really a trend in 1996 but could be a big thing in 2024. Curious what else is coming this year? Check out our list of the craziest fast food trends in 2024 here.
4. Halloween Whopper – Burger King
A Halloween Whopper? More like a Halloween Flopper. In 2015, Burger King released this Whopper variant with black buns. To achieve this effect, the buns were infused with A1 steak sauce the moment they were baked. Or so it seems. This burger may be black but it will turn your poop green. That’s right, the Halloween Whopper turned your poop into the same shade of grass. According to research, A1 steak sauce wouldn’t be enough to have this side effect so Burger King likely used a more concentrated version. While green poop isn’t exactly a health issue, anyone would be shocked to see their number 2 in a different hue.
3. Hula Burger – McDonald’s
We’ve all heard the age-old debate of whether or not pineapples belong on pizza (it does) but have you ever thought about pineapples on burgers? Ray Kroc, the founder of McDonald’s, came up with this meatless burger for Catholics observing lent in 1962. This didn’t make much sense since they already had the way better Filet-o-fish. The Hula Burger was nothing more than a grilled pineapple ring with cheese on a bun. Needless to say, this failed miserably and was removed from McDonald’s menu.
2. McAfrika – McDonald’s
This proves that you can’t just slap “Mc” on any word and expect it to be successful. Who even thought of this idea? It’s surprising that none of their PR team saw the cruel irony in naming a fast food meal after a place where millions die of starvation due to famine. Released to promote the Olympics in 2002, this was an exclusive offer in Norwegian branches of McDonald’s. This was essentially a hamburger but had pita bread for buns. If it weren’t for the culturally insensitive name, this might actually have been a pretty good dish.
1. Satisfries – Burger King
Turning unhealthy fast food into something healthy will often have consequences. That’s exactly what happened when Burger King tried to make their french fries “healthier.” The Satisfries were regular fries made with a special batter that supposedly absorbs less frying oil which resulted in Burger King claiming that these had 40% less fat and 30% less calories. While it proved to be true, it only had 4 grams less fat and 70 calories less than regular fries despite costing so much more. It got so bad that customers started calling these “saddest fries” because it didn’t really live up to it being a healthy option. After a year, Burger King permanently removed the Satisfries from their menu. Guess they were pretty “unsatisfried” about their sales.
That wraps up our list of the 10 biggest fast food failures of all time. Let’s just say that most of these will…not be missed. But you know what we do miss? These 15 discontinued food items that need to make a comeback.
