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As Seen in The Wall Street Journal and Harvard Business Review
McDLT - Failure Museum

Introduced in the 1980s, temperature was a huge issue when it came to serving the McDLT. McDonald’s wanted to serve the bottom bun and burger patty hot, but also wanted the lettuce and tomato to be cold when the sandwich reached the customer. So, instead of serving the burger wrapped in paper like most of its other offerings, the McDLT arrived in a styrofoam container with two separate compartments — one for the hot ingredients and one for the cold. Of course, this meant there was some assembly required, as the customer would then have to put their burger together themselves before digging in.

The styrofoam containers were necessary to keep the ingredients at the right temperatures — paper would not insulate the hot ingredients and separate them from cold ingredients in the same way — yet they were not great for the environment. Apparently, in the 1990s, environmental activists began criticizing McDonald’s for the amount of styrofoam they were using, and the McDLT was removed from menus to help cut down on the use of non-eco-friendly materials.

Picture of Sean Jacobsohn

Sean Jacobsohn

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