McDonald's have been around for a long time, and been phenomenally successful at doing what they do best. Most people think this is selling burgers, but in actual fact, what McDonald's sells is friendliness, convenience, consistency and, above all, uniformity. The average McDonald's customer knows what they are going to order long before the get to the counter or drive through.
But, in 1996, the Golden Arches were looking to shift their market demographic and target the “older” generation. Until then, the majority of their patrons were essentially kids. So, the good folk at the company headquarters set out to create a product that would lure the more mature consumer. Not surprisingly, this new product was a burger, but was marketed as a burger for, and only for, the adults. The idea was to appeal to the adult population’s more sophisticated taste, by creating a gourmet rendition of the trusted bun and patty. It was to be “the burger with a grown up taste”.
McDonald's were taking no chances when they launched the Arch Deluxe burger as the flagship of their new adult food range. Over $100 million was spent on advertising alone, with the rest of the estimated $300 million investment going to research and development. Adverts depicted children turning their noses up at the new burger, saying things like “you don’t even get a toy with that” or “I don’t get it”.
As it turned out, not many people got it. Consumers don’t go to McDonald's to savour the Michelin 5 star cuisine. They go for convenience, consistency and uniformity. Sales of the new burger where slow and the product was soon discontinued. The Arch Deluxe debacle stands today as the most expensive product failure in the history of McDonald's.
