McDonald's Mighty Wings are such a flop that now the fast food chain is just trying to break even.
McDonald's has resorted to "chicken wing clearance,"reports Venessa Wong at Bloomberg Businessweek.
The fast food chain is now selling the wings for about 60 cents each, compared with the original price of $1.
A few weeks ago, The Wall Street Journal reported that McDonald's still had 10 million wings to sell.
Earlier this year, CEO Don Thompson said that the chicken wings aren't the smash success it had hoped for.
While Mighty Wings apparently met internal targets, the item "was not strong enough to offset" weak sales trends, Thompson said on a conference call.
Here are some of the reasons they flopped.
- Price: In McDonald's terms, Mighty Wings are a premium product. The wings come in packs of three for $3.69, five for $5.59, and 10 for $9.69. Thompson said the prices, which are similar to Buffalo Wild Wings, were “not the most competitive.”
- Spice: Thompson said the wings were too spicy for many customers' tastes.
- Appearance: The Mighty Wings looked too much like "McNuggets with bones,"writes Susan Berfield at Bloomberg Businessweek.
- Economy: Many McDonald's customers are still struggling financially—and are more likely to spend their hard-earned money on a tried-and-true favorite.