The Franchise Giant Embraces the Fast-Food Chicken Craze by Reinventing its Iconic Sandwich
McDonald’s is putting a fun twist on its iconic Big Mac, swapping out the classic beef patties for crispy chicken. The Chicken Big Mac, which taps into the fast-food chicken craze, has already won over the hearts and palates of citizens in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The hefty sandwich arrives at U.S. McDonald’s locations this week.
With the Chicken Big Mac, McDonald’s stays with a long-standing restaurant trend: Customers have increasingly ordered chicken in recent years. Restaurant Business reported in August that sales at major fast-food chicken brands KFC and Church’s have risen 53% during the past five years, and Chick-fil-A is up, way up, with a 78% increase in that same period. So McDonald’s bet on the Chicken Big Mac looks to be a smart one that mixes in just a smidge of nostalgia, too.
Homage to an Icon
“With the introduction of the Chicken Big Mac, we’re excited to pay homage to one of our most iconic menu items, the Big Mac, and introduce it to a whole new generation of fans,” Tariq Hassan, McDonald’s USA chief marketing and customer experience officer, said in a news release from the company. The Chicken Big Mac contains the traditional Big Mac sauce, pickles, shredded lettuce and American cheese separated with a trio of sesame-seed buns. Those ingredients are staples of the original beef sandwich that launched in 1968.
The chicken version of the sandwich sold out eastward across the Atlantic just 10 days after introduction, CNN reported – making it McDonald’s “most popular launch ever.” This fall’s debut is in fact a bit of a re-introduction because the Chicken Big Mac had been tested at certain Miami McDonald’s locations in 2022 to gauge customers’ reaction, the New York Post reported.
The sandwich also created advance buzz at the late September Chain pop-up dining event in Los Angeles, USA Today reported. The Chicken Big Mac was on the menu of the “McDonnell’s” chain there. Diners weren’t told that foods on the menu were really from McDonald’s, although some guessed the source.
Promoting the Chicken Big Mac
To further publicize the Chicken Big Mac, the Chicago-based restaurant chain has teamed with online streamer and Big Mac fan Kai Cenat to assess “Is the Chicken Big Mac a Big Mac?” The collaboration will include live appearances by Cenat on McDonald’s social media channels such as Instagram. “By tapping into some of our fans’ biggest passions from dupe culture to live-streaming, we’re able to serve up more than just a sandwich,” Hassan said. “There truly is something for everyone to enjoy in this campaign and we’re bringing experiences that will surprise and delight them.”
The fast-food giant has been actively promoting chicken, which is less pricey than beef, to draw customers who’ve been cutting back on their restaurant meals to save money, the Post article stated. The pivot occurred after McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski called chicken “a priority area” for the company, a strategy he reiterated on the company’s most recent earnings call, according to a report from CBS News. “Our chicken sales are now on par with beef,” he told financial analysts.
Unanswered Questions
The end date for the Chicken Big Mac offering in U.S. restaurants was not disclosed, nor was information about pricing. Ninety-five percent of the brand’s 13,500 U.S. restaurants are franchises, according to the news release, and menu prices generally vary from location to location around the country.
In other news from McDonald’s, the Chicago-based chain disclosed last month that its $5 value meal would stay in most of the brand’s U.S. restaurants until December. Initially the cut-rate meal was to have lasted only about a month. Burger King, Jack in the Box, Sonic, Taco Bell and Wendy’s also rolled out value meals this summer.
