The Big Mac, The Whopper, KFC Chicken, and
the Pepperoni Pizza are some of the most classic and well known fast food items in the world.
Unfortunately, many other fast food items over recent decades have not been met with
the same excitement. So on that note, here are the Top 10 Fast Food Items That Totally
Failed. Burger King's Satisfries Starting things off are Burger King Satisfries
- one of this list’s failed products that were developed in order to please the growing
demands for healthier options. In this case, Burger King missed the mark by offering “healthier
fries” that displayed a series of failures on the company’s behalf. To begin, the supposedly
healthy fries were really not much different in nutritional value when compared to both
the original Burger King fries and french fries from other fast food establishments.
In addition to this, it is rather bizarre to think about the additional steps required
in order to make french fries, one of the supposedly worst foods, a good nutritional
choice. What restaurants are now realizing through these past failures is that people
are willing to eat the french fries and consume the calories that come with them. The fries
don’t have to be more expensive and healthier! Just offer veggie sticks or side salads as
alternatives. In the end, people who wanted fries just ordered fries. McDonald’s Salad Shakers One of the most fun and iconic items on this
list comes from McDonald’s. In the year 2000, as brands began to focus on the new
millennium and new healthier lifestyles, McDonald’s decided to add an exciting and fun addition
to the menu: Salad Shakers! The fun aspect of this menu item was all in the way you mixed
the salad with the dressing. The Salad Shaker itself came in what would resemble a slurpee or icee
cup - without the hole in the lid for the straw. The clear plastic cup would allow for
consumers to view the entirety of the fresh ingredients in all their glory. The best part?
Adding the dressing and shaking the salad up! Instead of mixing the dressing with a
fork or a container that is guaranteed to leak, salad shakers perfected a technique
used by home cooks and office lunchers for years! The shakers came in three varieties
including Garden, Caesar and Chef Salad. It was these fresh salads that helped start the
salad craze that has now seen salads as a mainstay option at most fast food establishments!
Although these salads were significantly popular, McDonald’s chose to replace the Shakers
with a line of specialty premium salads only three years after their launch. Wendy’s Frescata Sandwiches As Wendy’s continued to revitalize its menu
during the mid 2000’s, having been one of the first restaurants to begin offering salads,
the restaurant began to notice a new trend in fast food dining in which they decided
to take part. As sub and deli style restaurants such as Subway, Quiznos and Jimmy John’s
continued to eat up lunch and dinner sales, Wendy’s pursued its own launch of fresh
deli sandwiches to appease the changing taste tide. Over the course of the product’s run,
there were 5 sandwiches available: Ham & Swiss, Turkey & Swiss, Turkey with Basil Pesto, the
Chunky Chicken Salad and the Frescata Club. Unfortunately, what Wendy’s missed in its
“Frescata” sandwiches was the advertised freshness. Although in comparison to other
Wendy’s menu items at the time such as the burger or chili and fries, the Frescata sandwiches
offered a much lighter taste. But the handmade fresh to order sub sandwiches being offered
by competitors proved too much competition for the Frescata line. In addition to the
fact that the sandwiches were supposedly extremely time consuming to make, it was not long before
these sandwiches were permanently removed from the Wendy’s menu. Taco Bell's Seafood Salad While many would presume that to compete with
McDonald's Filet-O-Fish sandwich, Taco Bell would emerge with some phenomenal fish tacos…
they would be wrong. Instead, in 1986 Taco Bell put forth a Seafood Salad in hopes of
increasing sales and to compete against the Mickey D's fish sandwich that at the time,
was incredibly popular and rather indivisible in terms of consumer enjoyment. Some may be
wondering how a Seafood Salad is supposed to compete with a fried fish sandwich. This
extreme difference in approach to the fish dish was purposely done. Taco Bell advertised
against using fried fish asking why people would want fish so heavily processed when
it is already very delicious without any additional help. The salad started with a crispy taco
bowl filled with a bed of lettuce. It was then topped with tomato, black olive, cheese,
green onions, shrimp and crab. The fresh salad was supposed to crush the competition with
its innovative and forward thinking ideology. Unfortunately, the sales of the salad were
never enough to secure this menu item as a longtime addition and the Seafood Salad was
removed from the menu incredibly quickly. Taco Bell is a restaurant that is always willing
to push the envelope in terms of how the Taco can be reinvented for mass consumption. Unfortunately,
in terms of the Seafood Salad, it may have been better if this one was left in the test
kitchen. Pizza Hut's Priazzo In the 1980’s, it seemed in terms of fast
food, many restaurants were focussed on the classic motto “the bigger the better”.
Impressive large hamburgers began to emerge and in an attempt to re-establish themselves
as a filling take home family dinner option, Pizza Hut unveiled the Priazzo Pizza. When
thinking of a Priazzo Pizza, imagine one of the most intense stuffed crust pizzas ever
created. These pizzas were impressive in size, which although exciting, would inevitably
be their downfall. This may be the first time in history that a pizza was actually too big! The
pizza started with a deep-dish dough layer stuffed with the selected toppings. This layer
would then be sealed with dough and another pizza layer with cheese would be crafted on
top. The entire thing would then be baked for an incredibly cheesy experience. Upon
launching, the Priazzo pizzas were offered in three mouth watering flavors: the Roma,
the Florentine, and the Milano, which all featured an assortment of different meat and
vegetable toppings. In the end, the pizzas were failures for the same reason that many
other new menu items seem to fail: time consumption. The time required to cook these pizzas and
the differences in cooking temperatures led to this item being removed from the market
before it was able to shine on very many family dinner tables. McDonald’s Hula Burger This specialty item is one of the very first
new items ever created, and inevitably discontinued, by one of the biggest names in the fast food
industry, McDonald’s. The story behind the Hula burger is absolutely fascinating. In
the 60’s as McDonald’s franchises continued to expand, there was a noticeable decline
in sales in the Catholic parts of town, where practitioners often abstain from meat on Fridays.
Ray Kroc, a McDonald’s legend, decided to attempt to sell a grilled pineapple burger
topped with a cheese slice. At the same time, a McDonald's franchisee suggested and released
the “filet-o-fish” sandwich. As sales went, the fish sandwich was able to beat out
the competition hands down and as quickly as it arrived on the menu, the Hula Burger
was gone. Although the burger may have not been popular at the time of its original creation,
it would be interesting to see if this burger could find a much greater market as globalization
has greatly expanded the possible reach of this sandwich. As veganism expands across
the Americas, and McDonald’s continues to expand into nations with different flavor
preferences, traditions and meal requirements, it will be fascinating to see if this sandwich
has a chance of potentially finding a new home over 50 years later on the McDonald’s
menu! Taco Bell's Mountain Dew A.M. This item is by far one of the most bizarre
items that a fast food restaurant has ever tried. In an attempt to compete with morning
breakfast drinks, Taco Bell decided to take an extremely interesting approach to their
breakfast menu. Instead of focusing on specialty teas, coffees or juices, Taco Bell focused
on creating a non-alcoholic version of the modern day screwdriver. Instead of adding
vodka to orange juice and ice, Mountain Dew A.M. opted to replace the morning brunch beverage
with good old Mountain Dew. Many believed that Mountain Dew, a traditional drink of
gamers and partiers alike, may provide the additional sugar needed to be compared to
a morning energy drink or caffeinated hot drink. Unfortunately, the company missed the
mark by forgetting one major factor - nobody wanted to drink Mountain Dew in the morning
- no matter how much Tropicana orange juice was added. Although many of Taco Bell’s
iconic items have been able to make the transition from dinner to breakfast easily, it has not
been the same case for Mountain Dew. Breakfast burritos are a classic example of how a menu
item can be perfectly adapted for any time of day. Unfortunately, someone should have
realized that although Mountain Dew is fun and exciting, it does not hold the same versatility
needed to make it as a specialty breakfast drink. For that reason, Mountain Dew A.M.
was gone nearly as early as it began. The good news is, any true Mountain Dew fans can
easily create a DIY version from home! Just maybe not for breakfast. Tim Hortons Beyond Meat Burger Tim Hortons has been a long-standing favorite
among Canadians - and some lucky Americans - for their morning breakfast stop. Nearly
every early morning shift or proper road trip starts with a quick stop at the Tim Hortons
drive thru. When the company unveiled a new Beyond Meat Burger, it seems that many long
time fans began to turn their backs on a familiar brand. After a series of bizarre product and
branding additions including everything from Timbits cereal to canned chicken soup on grocery
store shelves, and chicken fingers to various new sandwich options in stores, Tim Hortons
decided to jump on the train of restaurants providing new meatless options aimed towards
pleasing the growing vegetarian and vegan market. Tim's introduced the Beyond Meat Burger
to the menu in 2019 alongside several “Beyond Meat” breakfast sandwich options. This was
only another misstep in a series of failures from the Tim Hortons brand in recent years.
After low sales, the company chose to remove the option from the menu in early 2020 stating
that customers were simply continuing to buy the regular versions of the sandwiches. Perhaps
a sandwich focusing on removing the meat, instead of just replacing it would have provided
better sales. Tim Hortons is now moving to a simpler version of the original brand refocusing
on the basic bakery and drink items that were able to gain them such popularity decades
ago. KFC’s Double Down While many of the items we've looked at came
about because of a need to update to a newer, healthier, and fresher menu, in 2010 KFC decided
to move in the opposite direction with one of the most polarizing sandwiches of all time.
The only thing that everyone can agree on about this sandwich is that it definitely
has the right name! The Double Down’s entire promotional aspect revolved around how this
sandwich is so much chicken, they had to skip out on the buns, instead swapping them for
two pieces of chicken and then adding bacon and cheese to the middle. The sandwich sparked
fierce debate as many felt the restaurant may have crossed a line in terms of the overtly
greasy and fatty dish. However, many admired the restaurant for its ingenuity and its willingness
to push the envelope in terms of flavor and excitement! The sandwich was popular, but
the initial sales were not able to hold up the intense backlash. The lack of continued
sales for the Double Down, was the main reason it was removed. Apparently though, Canada
has a secret love affair with this KFC sandwich. The Double Down returned to Canadian locations
in 2011, 2012, 2015 and again in 2018. Even more exciting, the 2018 version kicked it
up another notch by filling the chicken “buns” with a maple syrup aioli and added a hot Belgian
waffle. Devilishly delicious! McDonald’s Pizza McDonald’s has had more than a few failures
along its trail as one of the world's most popular fast food chains. Few are likely to
forget about one of McDonald’s largest brand failures, McPizza. As pizza continued to rise
in popularity through the 1980's McDonald’s thought they would try and get themselves
a slice of the pie. Unfortunately for them, McDonald’s Pizza would not be nearly the
money maker that was originally intended. One of the biggest issues with the pizza,
and one of the major contributors to its failures, was the time consuming process that pizza-making
takes. Although 10 minutes does not seem an obscene amount of time to wait for a fresh
pizza, when compared to the ridiculously fast paced speed of McDonald’s other menu items,
it was. Hundreds of burgers can be sold in the same time that it was taking to craft
just one McPizza. The timely process was also a significant issue in regards to drive thru
orders. Although the pizza was designed as a take home meal, McDonald’s - being a fast
paced restaurant - was not, and the pizza could not even fit through the drive-thru
windows. In the end, the task of remodeling all of the McDonald’s franchises to accommodate
the fan-named “McPizza”, would be a far too costly and time consuming procedure. And
the pizza was left in the 90’s - where many would agree it should stay! And stay right here for more great videos
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