Arch Deluxe
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The Arch Deluxe was a hamburger created and marketed by McDonald's with the intent of capturing the adult fast food consumer market, presented as a more sophisticated burger for an adult palate. It failed to catch on and is seen as one of the most expensive flops of all time.
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[edit] History
In response to the demographic trend of longer lifespans and an expanding older market, McDonald's made a conscious decision to attempt to market their food to a more adult audience. Rather than compromise their existing brand images, they decided to create a new line of burgers with more sophisticated ingredients. They commissioned Executive Chef Andrew Selvaggio to create the Deluxe line of burgers including the Fish Filet Deluxe, Grilled Chicken Deluxe, Crispy Chicken Deluxe and the flagship Arch Deluxe.
The Arch Deluxe was released in early 1996 in one of the most expensive advertising campaigns to that date. However, customers were turned off by the high price and unconventional ads, and consumer groups were upset by the higher caloric content. The brand was gradually discontinued, and is no longer found at McDonald's stores today. Some sandwiches that were created as part of the Deluxe line were kept; for example, the Grilled Chicken Deluxe was rebranded as Chicken McGrill. The new Crispy Chicken patty was also kept (the old McChicken is on the dollar menu) and 50 percent-larger fish filet patty was kept.
Ultimately, it is estimated that the research, production and marketing for the Arch Deluxe set McDonald's back over $300 million, and temporary losses due to the deprecation of their brand name. However, McDonald's has recently stated that some of their initial research into adult marketing was recycled in the recent development of their successful line of salad products.
[edit] Composition and nutrition information
The Arch Deluxe was a quarter pound of beef, on a toasted split-top bun topped with a circular piece of peppered bacon, leaf lettuce and tomato, and a "secret" mustard sauce. It was seen by some consumer groups as a huge step back after more nutritional offerings such as the "McLean" reduced-fat burger (which also failed).
[edit] Nutrition without bacon
- 560 calories
- 32 grams of fat
- 11 grams of saturated fat
- 960 milligrams of sodium
[edit] Nutrition with bacon
- 610 calories
- 36 grams of fat
- 13 grams of saturated fat
- 1.19 grams of sodium
[edit] Marketing
McDonald's hired Peter McElligott, an advertising mogul known for unconventional work, for their staggering $100 million ad campaign. Arch Deluxe ads were notable in that, unlike other fast-food ads, they did not really talk about the quality of the food. They primarily consisted of young children who would look at the seemingly complex burger and say "I don't get it", or "I don't understand what the big deal is." Some would even call the burger "yucky" and even complain that "you don't even get a toy with that!" This line of indirect rebel advertising was very similar to The Coca-Cola Company's marketing for OK Soda two years before, which was also a flop. Steve Burns, who would later host the Nickelodeon children's show Blue's Clues, performed the voice-over for at least one of the commercials in the series.
McDonald's widely distributed coupons allowing purchase of the otherwise-expensive Arch Deluxe for only $1.00.
When studies showed that their first set of advertising was unsuccessful, and was possibly even hurting their existing branding, they switched to a more conventional McDonald's-style commercial, featuring Ronald McDonald doing adult activities, such as playing golf. Such advertising, however, combined with the focus on the "adult" McDonald's, led to late night TV jokes and skits involving Ronald McDonald visiting pornography shops.
[edit] Trivia
- Adam Archuleta, safety for the Chicago Bears, was dubbed Arch Deluxe by his teammates on the St. Louis Rams. At the time (2001), Archuleta said that he did not even understand the anachronistic reference.
- Marilyn Manson mentions in his autobiography that at one point his fellow band members took to calling him Arch Deluxe due to his imperious attitude towards them.
- Despite failure nearly a decade prior in North America, in 2003 McDonald's Japan began selling the McGrand, a hamburger identical to the Arch Deluxe with the exception of the omission of peppered bacon. It was discontinued.
- A commercial used in the Arch Deluxe advertising campaign includes a then-unknown Jessica Biel.
[edit] External links
- McDonald's original Arch Deluxe Website from the Internet Wayback Machine
- A nutritional analysis of the Arch Deluxe from the Center for Science in the Public Interest
- Arch Deluxe Commercial from YouTube
