Fast Food Watch: McDonald's Turns to Minions for Summer Snacks
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Perhaps more than any other fast-food purveyor operating in China, McDonald's is willing to partner up with the wild and wacky ones. Now that yet another Minions movie is set to premiere in 2021, the old yellow arches are yet again hooking up with those little yellow creatures that are so beloved by Facebook meme makers.
A fortunate accident propelled me towards new menu items. After the McDonald's Pro app (I know, right?) gave me three straight error messages, I went to Ele.me, which offered me the new Snack Sharing Menu, which includes: three banana pies; a strawberry cheese and salted egg yolk sundae (stay with me); a strawberry cheese and salted egg yolk McFlurry; three shrimp sticks; and two chicken wings. All of these come in Minions (the little yellow animated guys) packaging. To that, I added a Fresh Shrimp Burger – also a new item – which is not part of the Minions line.
McDonald's foray into shrimp products is a direct assault on a KFC fortress. While KFC is loath to cross into the beef border, McDonald's – for whom chicken has long been on the menu in various forms – shrimp items open a seafood front that was formerly the sole territory of the Colonel.
Perfect for pescatarians, the Shrimp Burger swims in to new territory for McDonalds
The boldly named Fresh Shrimp Burger (can anything at McDonald's honestly be called fresh?), can be thought of as a burger version of a Thai shrimp cake. In that vein, it would benefit from a sweet and spicy sauce. Instead, it's served with a single slice of lettuce and the slightly spicy version of special sauce that we've seen before, on a plain bun, no sesame seeds. The Brazilian Passion Beef Burger, featured during the 2014 World Cup, leaps to mind. It's crunchy, not too chewy, and it doesn't break down into individual shrimps while in the mouth. At RMB 25, it's a bit of a luxury for a simple item.
Far from the worst attempt at a salted egg treat we've ever tried
In one of the strangest concepts ever to appear on a McDonald's menu (which is saying something), we finally arrive at the strawberry cheese and salted egg yolk McFlurry. Maintaining the yellow Minions motif, this item seeks to capitalize on the salted egg yolk sensation popularized by Irvins Salted Egg out of Singapore. Here's the good news: it tastes nothing like cheese or salted egg yolks. The egg expresses itself by making the dessert richer than the usual Oreo ice cream whip. This one comes across like a rich strawberry cheesecake, with some Oreo bits in it for an added crunch.
The big surprise in this snack pack is the banana pie. This author has never forgiven McDonald's for removing the apple pie from its menu. Localization is one thing; desecration is another. In any case, the first bite of the banana pie tastes like every other artificially flavored banana food item you've ever eaten. However, like a fine Bordeaux, wait for the finish on the banana pie. From the second bite until the last, the consumer in Beijing may be reminded of 拔丝香蕉 básī xiāngjiāo, the Shandong after-dinner treat of bananas, apples, or sweet potatoes stir-fried with sugar until they're all napalm-hot, served while the sugar is still caramelized, and eaten until the hardened sweetener is fused to the plate. These pies are one for RMB 8 or two for RMB 14.
The New Snack Sharing Menu is RMB 59. That's kind of a lot, but maybe for two adults and two kids, it works. In any case, these treats should be around for most of the summer, as there are no other major sporting events or movie premieres to which McDonald's can hook its promotional wagon.
READ: Fast Food Watch: McDonald's Dumps Plastic Straws
Images: McDonalds (via Weibo), Steven Schwankert
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