McDonald's is celebrating its 75th birthday and since its inception it has become one of the most American, most successful, and most addictive food creators in the history of earth. My first job was working at this company and I had nothing but the best time, working alongside some genuinely wonderful people, while learning some pretty handy people skills along the way.
McDonald's gets a lot of flack these days, but one thing is undeniable: just like Coca-Cola, Disney, and Hollywood, they're super successful at what they do. There's no way anyone can compete with coupons, Monopoly, and the dollar menu… It's not fair.
They've created classic meals like the almighty Big Mac, the greasy hash brown, the scrumptious McFlurry, they've perfected the art of the French/freedom fry, and they've shown us the importance of consistency. I can get a Southern Style Chicken sandwich with a Sweet Tea up in New York City and it will taste exactly the same up here as it will all the way down in Tallahassee FL. It's that perfect consistency that has made McDonald's the King of Burgers.
While other food chains can only take tiny bites off of McDonald's huge reach, Ronald McDonald will undoubtedly remain at the top of the hamburger meat heap for at least another 20,000 years or so. Serving around 68 million customers a day with over 35,000 locations in 119 countries, it's no wonder that this mega giant fast food restaurant is the best of the best.
However, sometimes even those at the top make mistakes. Sometimes they either make some crazy new item that utterly fails, or sometimes they create an item so tailor-made for one culture that you could never imagine eating it here in America.
Take a look at some of the craziest creations that McDonald's has ever put on their menus, and let us know if you would ever eat them yourself!
And please SHARE these unique items with your McDonald's loving friends and family!
1. Chicken with Spaghetti
Popular in Indonesia, this meal is just regular old spaghetti served with a side of fried chicken. Would you try this or would you just rather go to KFC instead?
2. Hawaii Local Deluxe Breakfast Platter
Spam, rice, cheese, Portuguese sausage, and some soy sauce. The perfect McDonald's breakfast for our Hawaiian friends!
3. Bubur Ayam
Found in locations in Malaysia, this porridge is filled with chicken strips topped with onions, ginger, fried shallots, and chillies!
4. McShrimp
With a special cocktail dip on the side these deep-fried shrimp seem worth the plane trip to take a vacation to Europe!
5. McLobster
Would you want to eat lobster from McDonald's? The restaurant describes this Canadian sandwich as "succulent lobster meat combined with celery, green onions, and light mayonnaise-style sauce with a hint of lemon, on top of a bed of shredded lettuce." Sounds tasty to me!
6. Poutine
This popular Canadian snack should definitely make its way to the states. French fries covered in gravy and melted cheese… This sounds incredible.
7. Corn Soup
Popular in Taiwan, this corn soup is definitely not an item you would ever expect to see on the dollar menu!
8. McLean Deluxe
In 1991, years before the release of the anti-fast food documentary "Super Size Me," this healthy alternative burger was an early attempt to appease the health nuts out there. The McLean Deluxe boasted that it was a 91% fat-free burger that replaced the fat with a seaweed-based extract instead. This lower-fat burger was ultimately dropped from the menu, but not before it earned the nickname, "McFlop!"
9. Tofu McNuggets
Japan offers the extremely popular deep fried tofu and fish "chicken" McNuggets!
10. McAfrica Burger
In an attempt to cater to American citizens expanding their cultural palates, this sandwich was released with a huge public backlash. The sandwich was released during a massive famine in Africa, and after being accused of insensitivity, the company finally pulled its sandwich off the market.
11. McPizza
With chains like Pizza Hut and Dominos gaining steam in the early '90s, McDonalds tried to enter the pizza-making field, too. However, customers who were used to fast food were irritated with how long it took to get their made-to-order pizzas. It quickly failed and franchise owners were stuck with their $50,000 pizza oven purchases!
12. Strawberry Custard Pie
This popular desert can be found in countries in the Middle East! Maybe if everyone ate this delicious custard pie together we could finally have peace!
13. McArabia
Popular in Morocco and Egypt, this sandwich is filled with cumin, onions, chicken, lettuce, tomatoes all inside warm flatbread, this sandwich comes with "a thousand and one flavors!"
14. Kiwi Burger
Only available in New Zealand, this amazing looking sandwich comes with a beef patty with McMuffin egg, tomato, lettuce, cheese, onion, beetroot, ketchup, and mustard to boot! Wonder if the Lord of the Rings cast and crew ate this on their lunch breaks!
15. Gazpacho
There's nothing like a nice cold tomato soup once you're done with your Big Macs in Spain!
What did you think about these menu items? Would you try any of them? Let us know in the comments below!
And please SHARE these crazy treats with your McDonald's loving friends!
