Some fast food ideas sound strange in theory, but in practice, they become wildly successful. These 10 fast food ideas are not those. Many fast food companies struggle to come up with fresh, new ideas, and here we present the evidence. Get ready to laugh at these 10 insane fast food ideas that totally flopped.
Number Ten: Burger King Kingdom. McDonald’s had McDonaldland, so Burger King thought it would be a good idea to cash in on McDonald’s success and made the Burger King Kingdom. The Kingdom launched in 1976 but quickly fizzled out by 1980, thanks to a slew of creepy commercials and the fact that kids were already so into McDonaldland that a trip to the Burger King Kingdom seemed unnecessary.
Number Nine: McDonald’s 1984 Olympic Giveaway. For the 1984 Olympics, McDonald’s agreed to do a giveaway every time a U.S. team won a medal. McDonald’s did this promotion in the hopes that the Soviet Olympic team would be taking home most of the medals. Little did McDonald’s realize the Soviets would boycott the 1984 Olympics, and instead the U.S. teams won many events. This resulted in food shortages in McDonald’s all across the country.
Number Eight: The McPizza. The McPizza is exactly what it sounds like: a bad idea. It was introduced in the late 1980s and led to a number of issues, including wait times for the pizza to be sold and supply issues. The McPizza left the McDonald’s menu by the early 1990s.
Number Seven: Table Service at Burger King. Burger King was desperate in the 1990s, so in an effort to appear like they had more money than they actually did, they decided to offer customers table service, which was unheard of in the fast food industry. However, all this did was scare people away, and the service was done away with by 1993.
Number Six: The Hula Burger. In an effort to pacify religious people who don’t eat meat on Fridays, McDonald’s introduced the Hula burger in the early 1960s. Here’s the clincher: instead of meat, the Hula burger featured a pineapple. Unsurprisingly, the Hula burger was replaced by the Fish Filet in almost no time.
Number Five: The McDLT. Please watch the commercial below.
Number Four: Deluxe Menu Items. Though kids have always loved McDonald’s, that’s not the case with adults. In 1996, McDonald’s tried to fix this problem with Deluxe menu items. A creepy ad campaign ran this idea into the ground by 1997.
Number Three: Wendy’s Superbar. Instead of introducing just one buffet, why not try three? This was the logic behind Wendy’s superbar in 1988. The three buffets carried salad, Italian and Mexican foods and were prepared just so in an effort to attract various demographics. However, due to the effort required to keep the buffets fully stocked and clean, they were done away with by 1998.
Number Two: The Bell Beefer. Taco Bell was channeling McDonald’s and Burger King when it came up with the Bell Beefer. Aside the fact that it just sounds disgusting, the Bell Beefer was just some taco meat thrown between two buns. Need we say more?
Number One: Taco Bell’s Chihuahua. Though the sassy chihuahua commonly associated with Taco Bell became wildly popular for his antics, many were offended because of the stereotype it perpetuated. Hispanic advocacy groups eventually lobbied to kill the poor dog, so it was done away with.