The burger giant McDonald’s is causing something of a flap with a bizarre new set of forthcoming “menu hacks” that includes a sandwich called Land, Air & Sea, combining fish, beef and a bird with dismal flying abilities – the chicken.
Menu hacks have in recent years become a popular way for the public to customize creations from existing items on fast-food chain menus.
For a limited period starting from 31 January, McDonald’s will sell four hacks that have been unofficially popularized in recent years by fans, including Land, Air & Sea – a chicken sandwich, Big Mac and Filet-O-Fish together – and the Crunchy Double, a double cheeseburger filled with six chicken nuggets.
However, the components will be sold as separate sandwiches and customers will have to unwrap them and build them themselves.
The fast-food chain’s announcement has since been met with a variety of reactions online, including at the low end outrage, shock and disgust.
“Three-quarters of those McDonald’s ‘menu hacks’ make me deeply uncomfortable because I can only see them as something you’d put together alone in your dark kitchen when your depression is at absolute rock bottom,” one person tweeted.
Another wrote: “McDonald’s new menu ‘hacks’ include the ‘Land, Air & Sea,’ which at 1330 calories probably can be ordered as ‘The Widow-maker.’ Skip the fries, order an accompanying cholesterol test.”
Those 1,330 calories includes 69 grams of fat, 19 grams of sugar, 2,150 milligrams of sodium, 123 grams of total carbs and 160 milligrams of cholesterol, or 53% of one’s daily values based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
The “air” element, meanwhile should be a deeply ironic reminder that chickens could fly well until humans domesticated and bred them so that their wings are too small and their flight muscles – the breast meat – too large.
One user called out the apparent lack of creativity behind McDonald’s “hacks”, tweeting, “@McDonalds So what’s the point of the ‘McDonald’s Menu Hacks’ if you’re not making the sandwich for us?”
Rival chain Wendy’s tweeted: “You guys know these are cheeseburgers and not an entertainment center from Ikea, right?”
