McDonald's Deluxe line
The McDonald's Deluxe line was a series of sandwiches introduced in the early to mid 1990s and marketed by McDonald's with the intent of capturing the adult fast food consumer market, presented as a more sophisticated burger for adult tastes.[1] The sandwiches sold poorly and the entire line was discontinued on August 18, 2000. The Deluxe series was a marketing disaster and is now considered to be one of the most expensive flops in McDonald's history.[2][3]
History
The line was first introduced in 1991 with the McLean Deluxe; the Arch Deluxe was introduced in May 1996 and the others on September 27, 1996. Except for the McLean Deluxe, all sandwiches were developed by McDonald's executive chef Andrew Selvaggio.[4][5]
Advertising
McDonald's budgeted at $100–150 million (
In promotional materials for these products, all employed a similar logo that featured a different color in the background.
During this time period, the Crispy Chicken Deluxe and the Fish Filet Deluxe along with the Grilled Chicken Deluxe and the Arch Deluxe were sold only in
Product variants
All sandwiches were served on a bakery style roll and featured better quality ingredients, such as whole leaf lettuce and sliced tomatoes.[4]
Burgers
- The McLean Deluxe was marketed as a McDLT.[8] Like the McDLT, and despite performing well in taste-tests, it did not sell well and was dropped from the menu in February 1996.[citation needed]
- The Arch Deluxe was another product to compete against the Burger King Whopper sandwich. It had hickory bacon, onions, tomato, ketchup, lettuce, American cheese, and a mustard and mayonnaise based Chef's sauce.[5]
Chicken
- The Grilled Chicken Deluxe sandwich replaced the McGrilled Chicken Classic sandwich and had light mayonnaise, lettuce and tomatoes; additional sauces to replace the mayo were available. Additionally, a Crispy Chicken Deluxe sandwich, which replaced the McChicken, was made available. These sandwiches were targeted to the female and health-conscious markets. The Grilled Chicken Deluxe and Crispy Chicken Deluxe sandwiches were brought back in 2015. This time, they are made on an artisan roll instead of the potato flour bun and replaced the Premium Chicken sandwich line instead of the McChicken.
Fish
- The Fish Filet Deluxe replaced the fishpatty was 50% larger than the original fish fillet used in the Filet-O-Fish. After the Fish Filet Deluxe was dropped, the larger fish patty was used in the current Filet-O-Fish. Despite failing eighteen years prior in North America, McDonald's New Zealand introduced in 2015 a nearly identical sandwich (adding a tomato slice and with two fish filets and a seedless bun instead of the potato flour bun) called the Seaside Fish Burger.
See also
References
- ^ a b c Glenn Collins (1996-09-19). "Chief of McDonald's Defends Arch Deluxe to Franchisees". the New York Times. Retrieved 2008-01-15.
- ^ "HowStuffWorks "5 Failed McDonald's Menu Items"". HowStuffWorks. 20 October 2008.
- ^ a b Mark Kassof (June 1997). "Lessons from marketing flops". Kassof.com. Archived from the original on 2007-12-23. Retrieved 2008-01-15.
- ^ a b McDonald's Corporation (1997-10-13). "McDonald's new Deluxe line". WebArchive.com. Archived from the original on October 13, 1997. Retrieved 2007-10-06.
- ^ a b Wally Bach (2003-03-17). "McDonald's: When the Passion is Gone, the Profits are Over". MondayMemo.com. Retrieved 2007-10-06.
- ^ Glenn Collins (1996-05-10). "With a new sandwich and a $200 million campaign, McDonald's tries to win back older diners". the New York Times. Retrieved 2008-01-15.
- ^ Carrie Shook (1996-01-14). "Arch Deluxe sizzles to retro funky sound created by Circa". Business First of Columbus. Retrieved 2008-01-15.
- ^ Anthony Ramírez (1991-03-19). "Fast Food Lightens Up But Sales Are Often Thin". The New York Times. Retrieved 2007-10-06.