On Thursday evening, McDonald's held an event using their menu in a new way. A gourmet dinner was served using ingredients from McDonald's. Kung pao chicken was served using chicken McNuggets. Tortilla espanola with Garlic and Saffron Aioli was made with McDonald's hashbrowns. McDonald's chicken and hashbrowns were also used to make the bold BBQ chicken. The same beef used for the hamburgers (although it wasn't ground) was used for the slow-cooked beef with blueberry pomegranate sauce and mac fry gnocchi. The gnocchi was made with their french fries and eggs and the sauce was made with their blueberry pomegranate smoothie base. For dessert, a pumpkin spice biznut (a combination of biscuit and donut) and cheesecake was served. This used the biscuit mix and pumpkin spice latte syrup from McDonald's.
So, is this a genius public relations plan? With so many news stories about all the processing McDonald's food has, I would say so. Rachel Tepper, however, did have some complaints: "McDonald's sourcing was barely mentioned. Talde's kung pao chicken made with chicken McNuggets were slimy and overly salty. A tortilla espanola made with hashbrowns was served hard and cold. Fried chicken was made with an oddly (and unnecessarily) sweet batter" (para. 4).
What does this all mean? Perhaps, it's that McDonald's took a step towards showing the world it's more than fast food. Tepper did mention that the beef dish and dessert would pass in a high rated restaurant (para. 5). It does leave me to wonder if other fast food chains will follow this trend. I believe that McDonald's followed it's slogan and decided to show the public what they're made of.
Tepper, R. (2013, September). McDonald's gives its menu a fancy makeover (photos). The Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/27/mcdonalds-fancy_n_4005194.html.
I think McDonald's hearts were in the right place when they took the initiative to do this promotion but, now they have to actually follow up with that. As a customer I would think "This is good. If their food ca be used to make this and it tastes good but, now what?" Their food is going to have to taste a thousand times better than usual now, especially with the review from Rachel Tepper. McDonald's is like the Facebook of fast food, their gonna do things people don't like but it won't stop people from going and making them number one.
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