The Cult of McRib
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SummaryThe McDonald's McRib sandwich has attracted a loyal, fanatical, but small fan base often referred to as "The Cult of McRib." Explore the history of the McRib, seasonal distribution, ingredients, quality or lack thereof, and behavior of the McRib cultists. A Brief History of McDonald's MenuMcDonald's is nothing if not a contradiction unto itself. The original streamlined McDonald's menu was created by Richard and Maurice McDonald in 1948 and consisted of just nine items:
This original nine-item menu has been validated with various extant contemporary display and paper menus. The limited menu allowed high-volume-low-cost food preparation with standardized procedures. Note: the official McDonald's site lists the original nine items as: hamburger, cheeseburger, soft drink in 3 flavors, milk, coffee, pie, and potato chips. Clearly very early in the process pie and potato chips were replaced with milk shake and French fries. In 1963 McDonald's began down the dubious path of expanding the original nine item menu with the addition of the Filet-O-Fish sandwich. As McDonald's grew exponentially, the commitment to a simple menu was foolishly abandoned and replaced with both additional permanent items and seasonal items. In 1981 McDonald's introduced the McRib sandwich. The McRib sandwich never became a permanent menu item, and has been available on an intermittent basis ever since. Often the McRib sandwich is available for certain brief times in select regions on a rotating basis. It usually returns just once a year in select markets, but not simultaneously. Recent National Seasonal Rollouts Beginning in fall of 2010, McDonald's began a series of nation-wide McRib rollouts rather than rotating select markets all year. Dates of recent national rollouts follow.
McRib Seasonal TheoriesWhy is the McRib available only sporadically? There are many theories. Here are a few: Inadvertent Official McDonald's Pronouncement At the 1985 stockholder meeting, it was mentioned that the reason the McRib was pulled was because the McRib could not sustain international sales because many countries do not eat pork regularly. The McRib would be brought back periodically as a specialty sandwich for promotional periods until sales receded. Ironically, Germany is the only country where the McRib is always on the menu. The "A Few Million Dollars Is Real Money Even for McDonald's" Theory McDonald's sells approximately 500 million Big Macs per year, compared with 20 million McRibs. Even though the McRib is an infinitesimal percentage of the McDonald's empire, 20 million sales of anything might be real money. The Rotating Specialty Inventory Theory It is best for any restaurant to have as little inventory as possible. The greater the inventory, the more it adversely affects the bottom line. The McRib adds three unique items to the required inventory, namely: the meat, the sauce, and the bread. If the McRib was offered permanently, the demand would fade to a lower level causing the total dollar sales to decline but the specialized ingredient overhead inventory cost would remain high. So, in a nutshell, the sales would plateau but expenses would go up. The rotating specialty inventory theory fits elegantly with the rotating regional availability practice. If the McRib is offered on a roving regional basis, the specialty inventory can be targeted to a relatively small geographical area until the profit margin drops, followed by rotating the specialty inventory to the next geographical area. The Declining Interest Theory When the McRib is not available, people (read McRib cultists) crave it. When the McRib becomes available again, an instant increase in traffic results. After the novelty wears off, interest declines rapidly. When the demand is less than fixed overhead costs, it is time to pull the product again. If it was sold all the time, people would just say "I'll get it tomorrow." If it is known to be short term item, people will buy it today because it might be gone tomorrow. Seasonal Marketing Ploy Theory Many fast food restaurant chains find that the November-December holiday period is an opportunity for timed marketing campaigns. With McRib viewed as a peak demand product, it is convenient to overlay the McRib limited release to a holiday advertising campaign. Often fast food restaurants experience an end-of-year decline in traffic, and the seasonal McRib promotion is a counter measure. Gaming the Price of Bulk Pork Theory Pork prices tend to decline from September through November. McDonald's, at least in recent years, has only introduced the sandwich right during this fall price decline. It is conceivable that some sort of pork price trigger initiates the timing of McDonald's bulk pork purchases, which in turn determines the retail availability schedule. The McRib would remain available until the supply of pork from the bulk purchase is exhausted. The McRib SandwichWhat exactly is the McRib Sandwich? From the official McDonald's web site:
From the official McDonald's McRib 2010 restaurant box:
From the official McDonald's McRib 2016 restaurant box:
McRib Quality or Lack ThereofThe McRib sandwich is marketed as a barbecue rib sandwich. It is neither, although it is a sandwich. The meat of the McRib sandwich is made from left over small scraps of pork. The pork scraps are molded together into the shape of ribs. In addition, striped coloring is added to enhance the illusion of ribs. The sauce may resemble in some remote manner barbecue sauce. However, no respectable specialty barbecue restaurant would serve such a bland sauce. The hallmarks of the McDonald's philosophy, beside high sales volume, are consistent quality and taste which will offend almost no one. Non-offensive taste leads to bland flavors. Consistent quality means the product at one location will be very similar to the product at another location. Consistent quality should not be confused with high quality. Thusly, the result of the McDonald's philosophy is bland consistent mediocrity. The McRib sandwich is an archetypal product. The barbecue cognoscenti have long regarded the McRib sandwich as fake barbecue Often this is expressed as "faux barbecue" or "faux cue" for short. The Cult of McRibDespite the mediocre quality of the McRib sandwich, but buoyed by its rare availability, the McRib sandwich has attracted a loyal, fanatical, but small fan base. This fan base is often referred to as the Cult of McRib. McRib cultists are easily identified by these behaviors:
ConclusionMcRib. The sandwich. The myth. The legend. This is the peculiar story of the Cult of McRib. For those of us non-cultists, it is best to remember the cognoscenti's assessment of the McRib as "faux barbecue" or "faux cue" for short. So when someone asks "What is your opinion of the McRib sandwich?" merely reply: "Faux cue." |
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