McDonald’s Is Cutting Its Menu Offerings. Are Your Favorite Items Safe?

McDonald’s

Faced with dropping sales, apathetic consumers and society’s current general displeasure toward all things fast food, McDonald’s has been in a state of flux lately. Not only were its U.S. sales down almost five percent, the chain recently announced drastic changes to the way it does burgers in an effort to appeal to more customers.

The latest news that things are not good is that it is cutting menu items. Here’s what the company said in a statement last week:

Our intent is to have a cleaner menu board that is easier for customers to absorb. We’ll be clearing the path for future menu innovations by:

Simplifying our current menu (i.e., one Quarter Pounder with Cheese burger vs. four; one Premium Chicken sandwich vs. three; one Snack Wrap vs. three.)

Reducing SKUs [stock keeping unit] ( i.e., 16 different burgers on the menu board but we only serve two patty sizes)

That could mean the Bacon & Cheese Quarter Pounder could go by the wayside, or the deluxe option. And maybe the Bacon Cheddar McChicken will be gone. “Noooo,” says someone who is a fan of those sandwiches. Of course, with custom burger options being eventually implemented, it may not mean much.

Or it could be one more sign that we are seeing the beginning of the eventual end of McDonald’s. Why not? Nothing last forever, and seeing McDonald’s eventually go under would probably be the necessary nail in the coffin for American commercial hegemony.

Also maybe it’s just that better informed and more cognizant consumers, which we are all becoming, prefer fast casual food.

The cuts are being tested at restaurants across the country, including Delaware, Arkansas, Texas, Tennessee and Georgia.

Oh, and, fries are safe. Probably. Unless the whole chain goes under.

[Via The Los Angeles Times]