McDonald's has a long history of ridiculous hamburgers.
The most famous silly offering might be the McDLT, a burger sold in a two-sided foam package. The burger sat on one side while the lettuce and tomato occupied the other.
"Keep the hot side hot and the cool side cool," the ads for the McDLT proposed.
The problem wasn't that the burger solved a problem that few people had. Instead, it was McDonald's MCD doubling down on foam packaging right when the public started to push back against its wastefulness. It was the wrong product at the right time and it quickly disappeared from menus.
Related: McDonald's menu brings back item many thought was gone for good
That was not a unique failure for the chain. It also spent $200 million marketing the Arch Deluxe as a burger specifically for adults. The chain called it "the burger with the grown-up taste" and ran ads in which kids were disgusted by it.
It was an odd strategy, given that nothing was overly adult about the Arch Deluxe, which featured bacon, lettuce, tomato, cheese, onions, ketchup, and secret sauce making it not unlike any other McDonald's burger.
The Arch Deluxe, however, was way more successful than the McLean, a low-fat burger that used seaweed as a binder. It was an attempt at a diet version of the Big Mac, but customers did not enjoy the taste, so it quickly failed.
McDonald's has generally failed with any burger designed to be healthy. The McLean was a disaster and the McPlant — the chain's attempt at a plant-based burger — failed to make a dent in the U.S. and was quickly dropped.
Now, one of the chain's menus has added a new take on a healthy burger. And while this new item isn't being offered in the U.S., it would not be hard for Americans to order.
Image source: Cate Gillon/Getty Images
Meet the McSalad burger
People don't come to McDonald's looking for healthy food. The chain has generally embraced that approach, at least in the U.S., and does not even offer a salad on its menu.
In New Zealand, however, McDonald's has a curious new burger offering that copies a menu item there from rival Restaurant Brands International's QSR Burger King.
The chain has added the McSalad Burger to its menu in New Zealand. The name is silly, but when you look at what's being sold, customers should ask some questions.
"McDonald's Salad Burger features tomato, shredded lettuce, slivered onions, American cheese, two pickles, and peppery McChicken sauce, on a toasted sesame seed bun," Brand Eating reported. "Apparently, the Salad Burger is McDonald's New Zealand's answer to Burger King's New Zealand's burger of the same name."
The Salad Burger is literally just a burger served without the meat patty. You could literally order one at any McDonald's by simply adding the McChicken sauce and dropping the hamburger patty.
Burger King's version also includes onion rings, which McDonald's does not sell.
McDonald's has been careful with price increases
In the U.S. McDonald's has increased its average ticket size despite challenging economic headwinds. That's something Chief Executive Chris Kempczinski addressed during the chain's third-quarter-earnings call.
"On value, I think it's always a focus at McDonald's," he said. "[We're] a business built on value and convenience with great-tasting food. So we're always keen to focus on value.
"I think certainly, given the inflation that the market has experienced, that we've experienced over the last year, really more than the year, we've tried to be very choiceful and disciplined on how we have executed those price increases," he said.
The CEO also talked about McDonald's' pricing relative to its rivals.
"The good news is we continue to lead on affordability. We continue to lead on value for money. We've seen no deterioration in our advantages there. We are holding those up," he added.
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