It’s Chicken Big Mac Week in America
In another opportunity to beef up the bottom line, McDonald’s launches a chicken version of its iconic Big Mac in the US.

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Unlike its sandwiches, McDonald’s wasn’t on a roll in the second quarter: Same-store US sales fell 0.7% year-over-year, their first decline since 2020.
However, data suggests recent value offerings have put the “gold” back in the golden arches and drawn cash-conscious American consumers back. This Thursday marks another opportunity to beef up the company’s bottom line, as McDonald’s launches a chicken version of its iconic Big Mac in the US.
Nuggets of Financial Wisdom
Companies across the retail world, including fast food, have widely acknowledged that consumers have had it with inflation and are in bargain-hunting mode. That’s good news for McDonald’s, whose brand luckily remains synonymous with “bang for your buck” despite the media outcry last year over its price hikes.
In 2023, a widely circulated TikTok noted none of the items on a McDonald’s “Dollar Menu” cost a dollar, and a Financial Times journalist stumbled upon a single franchise selling an $18 Big Mac Meal, prompting the New York Post to bray that the chain had been “slammed” for high prices. The company’s US president issued a public letter in May, attempting to downplay concerns (including those about the $18 meal), though the company conceded the average price of menu items had risen 40% in five years. Limited-time deals are bringing back the bargain:
- A $5 meal deal including a sandwich, four chicken nuggets, fries, and a drink — introduced in June for a “limited time only” and now extended through December — appears to have made a difference. Foot traffic at US McDonald’s locations calculated using geolocation data from mobile phones rose 5.4% year-over-year in August, according to Placer.ai.
- The Chicken Big Mac, which replaces the classic “two all-beef patties” with “two tempura-battered chicken patties,” will also launch as a limited product. Executives hope it can bolster a stock turnaround: McDonald’s share price was in a pickle by late June (falling 15% year-to-date), but has since erased those losses, and it’s now up over 2% year-to-date.
Where’s the Beef? Canada. That’s where the Chicken Big Mac was tested, along with the United Kingdom and Australia — it was so popular it had to be temporarily pulled from menus. The Great White North also offers a glimpse into the hamburger future: McDonald’s Canada is currently testing the Big Arch, a whopping 1,030-calorie double quarter-pounder layered with three slices of white cheese.