Square hamburgers belong to Wendy's (WEN).
The company has used that shape as a way to set its hamburgers apart from its rivals to show that it used fresh, never frozen ground beef sourced locally. Wendy's burger patties are square to metaphorically show that the company doesn't cut corners but they have been built on a promise set by company founder Dave Thomas.
"When Dave Thomas founded Wendy’s he set out to create a great-tasting hamburger, one that he wasn’t getting at any other restaurant chain. As he created the business plan and menu, he knew his delicious hamburger would need to be made with fresh beef and only fresh beef. And you know what; they actually hand-pattied the beef in-restaurant back in the day," Wendy's Senio Vice President Dave Hecker told the company's Square Deal blog back in 2016.
The company has kept the iconic shape and. despite having grown from a handful of restaurants to thousands, it has continued to use fresh, never frozen beef. Now, McDonald's (MCD) has decided to copy its rival's signature look for two new hamburgers (albeit without copying the fresh, never frozen beef.
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What's a McDonald's New York Burger?
To taste the chain's new square hamburgers, you'll have to take a trip to one of the McDonald's in Japan. That's where these Wendy's-like offerings will hit the menu for a limited time.
Designed to give McDonald's Japan visitors a taste of New York, the "Itta Ki Ni Naru N.Y. Burgers" come in square shapes and paper-style packaging inspired by American comic books. The name means "I Feel Like I Went to N.Y. Burgers."
First reported by the Tokyo-based news outlet SoraNews24, the new offering includes the Thick Beef Burger Pepper & Cheese (a beef burger with bacon, lettuce, and smoked cheddar) and Grilled Chicken Burger Salt & Lemon (a chicken burger with bacon, salad, onions, and a lemon-garlic sauce). It is a temporary promotion and will be available at McDonald's Japan locations from February 9 to mid-March.
Both burgers will have the square meat and bun shape that is so different from the round one Americans associate with the iconic McDonald's cheeseburger.
McDonald's Varies Its Menu Around the World
Known for tailoring its menus to local tastes, McDonald's restaurants offerings can vary vastly in different countries. McDonald's India has a wide selection of vegetarian options like the McAloo Tikki Burger and the Paneer Wrap while McDonald's Philippines has McSpaghetti with tomato sauce and a side of fried chicken.
Modeled after a somewhat romanticized image of what New York is like, the "I Feel Like I Went to N.Y. Burgers" will also be advertised to Japanese viewers through an ad campaign and commercial set to "Ghostbusters" theme music.
Along with Restaurant Brands International (QSR)-owned Burger King, Wendy's and McDonald's are the three biggest burger chains in the United States. While McDonald's and Wendy's saw in-person traffic to their stores rise by a respective 1.1% and 3.8% following the pandemic, Burger King visits are still down 6.8%, from 2019.
While the three chains are constantly trying to outdo each other with different offerings and options, American McDonald's is known for having the most stable and unchanging menu. While Burger King launched a veggie burger in 2016, the chain behind the iconic Golden Arches is only now testing the McPlant in select US markets.
But as Wendy's square burgers have become its signature feature for American eaters (the fast-food chain claims its founder Dave Thomas invented the square burger), it's easy to see why a product like the "I Feel Like I Went to N.Y. Burgers" is limited to menus outside the U.S.
