Making Mealtime Meaningful: Discover how we're giving back with the 12T Cares program →

Fast food is such a strange concept. Is it good? Not usually. Is it healthy? Hardly ever. Is it weirdly satisfying in a way that makes you crave more? Absolutely. In a world where those are the rules, almost anything goes. The determining factor for what fast food items stay and which ones go all depends on supply and demand. You’d think giant corporations like McDonald’s and Burger King would have figured out what the people want by now, but they aren’t immune to flops and failures. Let’s take a look at some of the worst fast food fails of all time!

McDonald’s McLean Deluxe

Pinterest

When I think of McDonald’s I think of salty fries, greasy burgers, and sugary milkshakes. You know, basically the foundation of one of the first fast food chains in America. It seemed to be working out well for them, so I’m not sure why they took a turn in the early 90s to offer healthy options.

Nevertheless, McDonald’s released the McLean Deluxe as part of their new deluxe burger line. The burger boasted of the same great taste found in their other sandwiches, but with 91% less fat. Sounds pretty good, right? Turns out most of the flavor in McDonald’s food comes from the fat. The McLean disappeared off menus almost as quickly as it appeared, never to be heard from again…

Dairy Queen Breeze

Wikimedia

Here’s another fast food giant who tried to bring healthy options to their otherwise sugary, greasy, delicious menu. If you’ve ever been to Dairy Queen, then you know they are famous for their soft-serve ice cream. Practically every dessert item on the menu starts with a soft-serve base. Why, oh why did they have to go and mess with a good thing?

In 1990, Dairy Queen came out with a frozen yogurt blizzard called Breeze. According to an article from Wide Open Country, they couldn’t even sell enough of these frozen yogurt blizzards to use up all the yogurt before it went bad!

Taco Bell’s Bell Beefer

Reddit

This one is truly a head-scratcher for me. I’m just trying to imagine the board meeting where this was pitched. “I think we should have a menu item that is everything we put in a taco… but on a bun instead of a tortilla.” Look, if I wanted a burger, I’d get a burger. I go to Taco Bell for, wait for it… tacos.

Apparently, everyone else had that same thought, too, seeing as it’s no longer available. I find it funny that Taco Bell’s current slogan is, “Think outside the bun.” I wonder if the Bell Beefer failed so hard they had to swing in the opposite direction!

Burger King Enormous Omelet Sandwich

Wikimedia

I won’t lie, the Burger King Croissan’Wich is my favorite breakfast sandwich. I said it. In fact, I love pretty much all of their breakfast menu items. It’s surprising then, that the Enormous Omelet Sandwich failed so hard. Aside from being a bit unwieldy, the sandwich itself packed a lot of fat and calories. This is pretty much the opposite of the McLean Deluxe fiasco.

According to NBC news, “Burger King’s ‘Enormous Omelet Sandwich’ features a two-egg omelet topped with two slices of American cheese, three strips of bacon and a sausage patty on a hoagie-style bun. At 730 calories and 47 grams of fat, it is even heftier than the company’s famed ‘Whopper,’ which weighs in at 700 calories and 42 grams of fat.” Yikes.

Check out the rest of these fast food fails in the video below!

Subscribe to 12 Tomatoes