We thought our newly crowned favorite fast food chain was up to something. Last month, there were rumors that McDonald's was planning a nationwide dollar breakfast menu, and these rumblings were confirmed when the chain announced last Thursday that, come early January, it will offer at least five new breakfast items. Do you know what's going to be only a buck in 2010? Here's the deal: I'll shoot you a picture of a dish, and you guess whether it is — or isn't — on the chain's new breakfast dollar menu. Find out how good your best guess is when you take the quiz!
In this economy, even the savviest of fast food diners have a hard time stretching their dollar. But if the rumors are true, value-seekers may soon find it a lot easier to fill up for a buck early in the day. According to the Chicago Tribune and the Wall Street Journal, McDonald's plans to reveal a nationwide breakfast dollar menu.
Based on internal documents obtained by the two publications, the McDonald's breakfast dollar menu will begin a national advertising run in January 2010. Although McDonald's has declined to comment, the burger giant tested a breakfast menu with $1 items in August in its Chicago stores, offering items such as a sausage McMuffin, breakfast burritos, and hash browns.
The chain, which is also rolling out the Mac Snack Wrap nationwide in January, will face some stiff competition.
Burger King recently added the quarter-pound Double Cheeseburger to its menu through March, and Dunkin' Donuts just rolled out a temporary $0.99 menu in Chicago. If two leading newspapers are publishing stories on it, the alleged menu can't be too far from the truth. What would you hope to see on a $1 breakfast bonanza?
Burger King has found itself in the spotlight again after offending a religious group and most recently contemplating major menu changes. The number two fast food chain has upset Hindus worldwide with a new Spanish print campaign that features the Hindu goddess, Lakshmi, sitting atop a meat sandwich with the caption, "A snack that's sacred," in Spanish.
The Hindu religion, which has the highest proportion of vegetarians among major denominations, frowns upon showing meat with a revered goddess, as well as exploiting one of its sacred symbols. Although the Hindu American Foundation has demanded that Burger King pull the ad, so far, BK has declined to comment. 
Perhaps the chain's executives were focused on other developments. Today, Burger King store operators are voting on a measure to slash the price of its double cheeseburger to $1 this Summer, in an effort to win over competitors' customers — and at a time when top rival McDonald's has been focusing on premium offerings. Last year, rising costs forced the world's biggest burger chain to remove its trademark Double Cheeseburger from its Dollar Menu.
Do you feel that Burger King has made two major missteps, by offending members of a religious community, and focusing on low-end items? Should the advertisement be withdrawn, and an apology issued? Would you be more likely to eat at Burger King than McDonald's if the company offered a $1 double cheeseburger?
Photo by flickr user Neubie
Top fast food chain McDonald's announced its third-quarter earnings today, and made reassurances that it would continue its efforts to be "recession-resistant."
The corporation made sure to squash swirling rumors that its dollar menu may become a thing of the past. There will, in fact, still be a dollar menu. "We advertised it heavily in September," said COO Ralph Alvarez. "We wouldn't have done that if we were going to be walking away from it."
McDonald's has, however, been testing the menu's key item, the double cheeseburger, at higher prices and with one piece of cheese rather than two, as a result of the rising commodity costs. "We expect to have a decision [on the double cheeseburger] soon," said CEO Jim Skinner. Will you be watching to see what's on the new dollar menu?
In a response to soaring food prices, McDonald's announced yesterday that it will be restructuring its dollar menu. This means swapping out the dollar menu's most popular items and replacing them with less-costly offerings. The company is testing changes to its $1 bestseller, the double cheeseburger. Chief Operating Officer Ralph Alvarez said:
The way the dollar menu looks today won't be the way it looks next year. . . . What fits on the menu will look different than now because it has to be profitable.
To offset the rising cost in cheese, which is expected to rise 21 percent this year in the US, many stores are using only one slice of cheese instead of two and touting the new offering as a "double hamburger with cheese." Other franchises have increased the cost of the double cheeseburger to $1.19.
If removed from the dollar menu, the double cheeseburger will be replaced by another burger. What do you think about the development? Will you be upset if the double cheeseburger is no longer a part of the dollar menu?
