Why Was McDonald’s Arch Deluxe Burger a Marketing Failure? | Eater

"Launched in 1996 as a deliberately 'grownup' premium burger aimed at urbane, diet-conscious Gen Xers, this upscale sandwich paired a beef patty on a bakery-style potato roll with crisp lettuce, tomato, peppered bacon and a stoneground mustard–mayo sauce developed after months of R&D by chef Andrew Selvaggio (formerly of Chicago’s Pump Room). The product involved detailed technical work—new buns, a new sauce, adjusted salt-to-pepper ratios and peppered-bacon procedures—and Selvaggio remembers tasting 30-plus mustards while refining the recipe. Backed by an enormous national ad campaign and projections of up to $1 billion in sales, the rollout still failed to catch on: consumers rejected the upscale positioning, franchisees resisted the added complexity and cost, and the $2.09–$2.49 price point felt too high. After tests in Canada (1995) and a U.S. debut in 1996, it lingered in select stores before being removed in 2000; it retained a small contingent of fans and briefly reappeared in a cheaper test version in 2018. The effort is now remembered as a costly marketing misstep—an attempt to chase a different demographic that neglected core customers—while the company later found more traction courting younger audiences and nostalgia through celebrity partnerships." - Jeremy Glass