McDonald’s has tried some wild experiments over the years. Some of them were tasty, others were downright confusing. From spaghetti to their own version of lobster roll, not every idea made the cut. Here are 10 strange McDonald’s items that hit the menu once, caused a buzz, and disappeared forever.
10. McHotDog
Ray Kroc, the man who turned McDonald’s into an empire, had a rule: no hot dogs. He considered them unclean for his pristine fast food vision. So it was shocking to know that in 1995, McHotDog appeared on the menus. It wasn’t a nationwide rollout, but a quiet test in select Midwestern US locations. It was a standard hot dog in a bun, topped with ketchup, mustard, and a relish. The experiment was short-lived, failing to gain significant traction.
9. The Hula Burger
In an attempt to woo meat-abstaining Catholics, Ray Kroc had an idea: Hula Burger. In between two buns, you get a grilled pineapple slice, topped with a slice of cheese. However, a Cincinnati franchisee named Lou Groen had a different vision: Filet-O-Fish. You can already guess which item won in a legendary showdown.
8. McSpaghetti
No, this isn’t a fever dream. For a period of time, McSpaghetti was very real and part of the menu in various US test markets. It was a simple dish: spaghetti noodles with marinara sauce and meatballs. While McSpaghetti’s US run was short-lived, it found a surprising cult following in the Philippines, where it’s still a menu staple!
7. McPizza
For a brief moment, McDonald’s dared to enter the pizza market. In 1980, they launched the McPizza, which expanded to over 500 test locations in the US. But to be honest, pizza takes time. A McPizza could take 11 to 16 minutes to cook, and that’s already a lifetime in fast food chains. Despite the initial excitement, the McPizza just couldn’t fit into McDonald’s quick service model.
6. McLobster
McDonald’s had the McLobster in an attempt to enter the upscale seafood market. It featured real Atlantic lobster meat, and was tested in the New England states and Atlantic Canada. Unsurprisingly, sourcing fresh lobster proved to be a logistical nightmare on a national scale. The price point was also a problem. While McLobster was cheaper than a lobster roll, it was still a far cry from the chain’s usual budget-friendly fare.
5. Onion Nuggets
Before we had the iconic Chicken McNuggets, McDonald’s experimented with Onion Nuggets. They were a hybrid between an onion ring and a future McNugget. The idea was to offer a vegetarian-friendly side, but they never really caught on. The Onion Nuggets were also reportedly more expensive to produce than the fries, so it disappeared, paving the way for the nuggets we know and love today.
4. McDLT
In the 1980s, McDonald’s promised to keep the hot ingredients of your burger hot, and the cold ingredients cold. How? Through the McDLT! It came in a two-sided Styrofoam container, with one side holding the hot beef patty and bottom bun. While the other held the cool lettuce, cheese, tomato, and top bun. So yes, you had to assemble the burger yourself. While McDLT was a nationwide offering, its packaging caused the downfall, especially when environmental awareness started growing.
3. Arch Deluxe
The Arch Deluxe was a burger for grown-ups, or at least that’s how the chain framed it. They spent an estimated $200-$300 million on advertising to shed its kid-friendly image and attract more sophisticated customers. Adults weren’t convinced it was worth the higher price, and it didn’t offer enough unique selling points, causing the Arch Deluxe to fail spectacularly.
2. The Super Hero Burger
In 1995, McDonald’s celebrated the release of the movie Batman Forever with the Super Hero Burger. It featured three beef patties, two types of cheese (yellow and white), tomatoes, lettuce, and mayonnaise, all served on a sub-style bun. It was hearty, satisfying, and never meant to be a permanent menu item. Once the Batman Forever hype died down, the Super Hero Burger disappeared from the menus.
1. McAfrika
Now, this is a menu item that’s strange not because of ingredients. It’s all about the timing. The McAfrika was a burger launched in Norway and Denmark in 2002, and was tied to the Olympic Games. It was marketed as an “authentic African recipe,” featuring beef, cheese, and tomatoes in a pita bread. The problem? The launch coincided with a severe famine in Southern Africa. The timing was so poor McAfrika was quickly pulled off and McDonald’s was forced to issue an apology and donate a portion of the proceeds to famine relief efforts.