McDonald’s keeps mystery alive with ‘Archburger’ rollout

The fast-food chain is dodging comparisons to its current and past products by staying very quiet about its new sandwich. How will consumers respond to its opaque strategy?

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McDonald’s never announced it was testing its new burger—but the news got out all the same.

USA Today reported on a market analysis that indicated the fast-food chain was testing burgers made from fresh beef in several locations in advance of a national release.

It wrote:

Instinet analyst Mark Kalinowski identified two test sites — one in Plano, Texas, and one in a suburb of Tulsa, Okla. Both are selling a regular Archburger with cheese, pickle, onions and Arch Sauce for $2.19. An Archburger L&T, which also has lettuce and tomato, is going for $2.69. A Bacon Archburger is $2.89.

The Plano restaurant’s menu board includes the tagline “One bite and you’ll believe” and the promise of “fresh beef cooked when you order,” according to Kalinowski.

Once it was scooped, McDonald’s acknowledged it was testing a fresh-beef creation but did not provide additional information.

USA Today continued:

McDonald’s confirmed the Archburger test, but declined to share details.

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