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  • When you think of McDonald's, what's the first thing that comes to mind?

  • Is it the chain's perfectly salty, slightly beefy french fries?

  • Is it the iconic Big Mac with its Special Sauce and middle bun?

  • Or is it a simple but classic Quarter Pounder with Cheese?

  • Whatever the case, chances are pretty good that their chicken isn't anywhere near the top of the list.

  • Sure.

  • McNuggets are greatfor your eight-year-old niece.

  • But when it comes to food for adults, McDonald's isn't exactly synonymous with good chicken.

  • Chick-fil-A, on the other hand, is synonymous with chicken.

  • And according to McDonald's franchisees, it's that classic Southern-style chicken sandwich that is missing from the McDonald's menu.

  • How strongly do they feel about it?

  • In 2019, the National Owners Association, which is comprised of McDonald's franchisees, sent out an email suggesting that McDonald's getting a good chicken sandwich would be their equivalent of landing on the moon.

  • "A Chicken Sandwich at McDonald's should be our top priority.

  • JFK called for a man on the moon, our call should be a category leading chicken sandwich."

  • "We choose to go to the moon in this decade, and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard."

  • Why do they feel so strongly?

  • Because the franchisees are losing money to Chick-fil-A, and they aren't happy about it.

  • The email read in part, "A favorite, that our customers want, is a chicken sandwich.

  • Unfortunately, they have to go to Chick-fil-A for it.

  • Chick-fil-A's results demonstrate the power of chicken."

  • And the N.O.A. made it clear that McNuggets just aren't going to cut it, sounding a warning to other franchisees that Chick-fil-A was coming for them too.

  • "Yes, we have great Chicken McNuggets and our McChicken is a very good product.

  • But we do not compete in the premium chicken sandwich category, either grilled or crispy.

  • Our US Southeast markets' results should concern everyone.

  • You may not have Chick-fil-As in your market or to the degree they have them in the southeast, but they are coming.

  • And they don't discount."

  • So what's the solution?

  • The N.O.A. implored McDonald's to bring back their Southern Style Chicken sandwich, but with some key improvements so they could compete with Chick-fil-A.

  • "We don't have to reinvent the wheel.

  • We didn't invent the drive thru, we perfected it.

  • Chick-fil-A invented the Chicken Sandwich, but we can do one better.

  • Our Southern Style Chicken sandwich was very close to category leading.

  • It needs some tweaks.

  • We need to serve it in a foil bag and we need to butter the bun, but the patty recipe was excellent."

  • A side-by-side comparison of Chick-fil-A's Chicken Sandwich and McDonald's Southern Style Chicken Sandwich by Serious Eats in 2008 concluded, "Honestly, this sandwich from McDonald's was a pretty accurate recreation of the Chick-fil-A sandwich...

  • If you don't have a Chick-fil-A near you, you're not going to do too bad by grabbing the Faux-fil-A from Mickey D's."

  • You might not think that McDonald's could possibly be threatened by little ol' Chick-fil-A — after all, the Golden Arches runs something to the tune of 14,000 U.S. locations compared to CFA's roughly 2,000.

  • But even with fewer locations, and even though Chick-fil-A chain is famously closed one day a week, according to Nation's Restaurant News, Chick-fil-A is the nation's third-largest restaurant chain by sales in 2019, behind only McDonald's and Starbucks, and beating out fast food powerhouses Taco Bell, Wendy's, and Burger King.

  • While there is a vast difference in total sales — $38.52 billion for McDonald's compared to Chick-fil-A's $10.46 billionthat meteoric rise of the chicken-centric chain obviously has Mickey D's owners thinking outside the burger box.

  • And for good reason: according to the 2018-2019 American Customer Satisfaction Index, Chick-fil-A had the most satisfied customers amongst fast food restaurants, while McDonald's was down near the bottom.

  • Will a better chicken sandwich change that?

  • Maybe not.

  • But while a better chicken sandwich might be a pretty small step for an individual franchisee, it would represent a very large step for all McDonald's-kind.

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When you think of McDonald's, what's the first thing that comes to mind?

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