Fast Food Watch: McDonald's Sundaes Go Pop; Don't Call Taco Bell a Comeback

McDonald's has rolled out one of the more interesting products in its line-up this year, especially as it's not a movie tie-in or promotion for a major sporting event. 

The Popcorn Caramel Sundae will warm the hearts of Americans who remember the caramel sundae on the McD's menu in the 1970s, right along with chocolate and strawberry. Now it makes a return in China, where its dessert offerings have throttled down since they eliminated shakes.

The sundae is exactly what it appears to be: a caramel sundae with five or six kernels of sweet popcorn placed on top. If it were salted popcorn, we could speculate that McDonald's is trying to get on the salted caramel bandwagon, although sadly Starbucks is no longer riding that one here in China, either. In a test kitchen somewhere, I can hear a chef saying, "It adds crunch to the softness of the ice cream."

It's a strange item for McDonald's. No, there's no McPopper in the back making fresh kettle corn. The kernels arrive in a vacuum-packed.

As RMB 10 desserts go, it's not bad. While the average Chinese consumer won't do this, the first time I picked three of the five kernels off and ate them directly, pre-ice cream, and the second time I just ate the popcorn first and then the caramel. The ice cream has more of a caramel flavor itself, and is a yellower color than its normal pork-lard white. 

By the way, I tried the mango pie. Don't.

Recently, Vice wrote about Taco Bell's planned re-arrival in China, with the incorrectly titled "Taco Bell Hopes to Use Nacho Cheese Sauce to Conquer China." If that were the case, they would have conquered it over a decade ago when they first tried it with two sit-down restaurants in Shanghai. This is a case where Yum! Brands, the parent company of Taco Bell, along with KFC and PIzza Hut, over-thought and over-localized the menu straight into under-performance. Call it a comeback at your own peril: you can't make a comeback when your first outing was a failure.

RELATED: 4 Patties, 103 Minutes, and 97 Yuan: Opening Day at Beijing's 'Create Your Taste' McDonald's

Fast Food Watch golden rule number one: launch your fast food franchise in Beijing, not in Shanghai. Shanghai hates western fast food (not enough river creatures, I guess) until the rest of the country decides it likes it. Launch in Wudaokou, keep the late-night hours, then open in Sanlitun Soho. They certainly wouldn't be the first fast food franchise to need at least one try to establish themselves in Beijing specifically and China in general.

Photo: Steven Schwankert/the Beijinger