What if fast food chains try to get a little too classy? Well, that happened, and it didn’t always end well. Think healthy fries, deli-style sandwiches, and 1/3-pound burgers that turned into a disaster. Here are 10 times fast food chains tried to be fancy and flopped.
9. Burger King’s Satisfries
To jump on the “healthy-ish” bandwagon in 2013, Burger King launched Satisfries, a crinkle-cut fry with 40% less fat and 30% fewer calories than their regular fries. Unsurprisingly, the price was higher. Satisfries didn’t connect with customers who go to BK for the Whopper and classic fries, and not for a more expensive “healthy” option.
8. Wendy’s Frescata Sandwiches
In 2006, Wendy’s saw deli-style places like Subway and Panera Bread were doing well. That’s when Wendy’s decided to join the competition. They introduced Frescata sandwiches, made with ciabatta bread and premium ingredients like Black Forest Ham, sliced turkey, and roasted peppers. The problem? They slowed the whole kitchen down, and obviously, they weren’t “fast food.”
7. McDonald’s McDLT
In the 1980s, McDonald’s brought us a burger in a two-sided Styrofoam container, so the hot side of the burger remains hot, and the cool side stays cool. That also meant customers had to assemble the burger themselves. It failed because the packaging was wasteful and expensive. Also, customers just wanted a simple burger, not a DIY construction project.
6. Burger King’s Whopperrito
In 2016, we saw a brand identity crisis in food form from Burger King. Here was their bizarre concept: Whopperrito, a burger wrapped in a tortilla. Yes, it had the classic flame-grilled beef patty, but with a strange queso sauce, onions, tomato, and lettuce. People were confused if it was a burrito or a burger, because it didn’t taste quite like either.
5. Wendy’s Superbar
The 1980s were all about excess, and Wendy’s leaned into it with the Superbar. It was an all-you-can-eat buffet inside their restaurants. It was a fantastic deal for customers who could fill up on a salad bar and a “Mexican Fiesta” bar with tacos and burritos. For franchise owners? It was a nightmare. The labor costs for keeping it clean was enormous. They couldn’t make enough money to justify operational costs.
4. McDonald’s McPizza
After the McSpaghetti flop, McDonald’s decided to try their hand again at Italian food with the McPizza. The restaurants were retrofitted with special pizza ovens, and the drive-thrus were widened to fit pizza boxes. The only problem was the pizza took too long to make (up to 11 minutes). That was a deal-breaker for a chain known for speed.
3. Taco Bell’s Attempts to Conquer Mexico
In 1992 and again in 2007, Taco Bell was bold enough to open locations in the country that basically invented tacos. Yup, Mexico. The chain was trying to appeal to a more sophisticated Mexican audience, and it failed big time. Mexicans already have the real tacos. They also found the American version unappealing and overpriced.
2. A&W’s 1/3-Pound Burger
In the 1980s, A&W launched a third-pound burger to compete with McDonald’s Quarter Pounder. It was a bigger burger and priced the same. The reason it flopped was amusing: the public was so bad at fractions they thought the quarter-pounder was bigger than a third-pounder! People really thought they were getting less food for the same price.
1. McDonald’s Arch Deluxe
In 1996, McDonald’s was losing market share to places like Wendy’s and Burger King, and so the Golden Arches decided to get “adult.” Their solution? Arch Deluxe, with the tagline “The burger with the grown-up taste.” It used potato flour bun and a “secret” mustard-mayo sauce. This item alienated the chain’s customer base at the time (families with kids) and failed to attract new “adult” demographic.