Mega Mac
McDonald’s Japan has a new product campaign going on now. I don’t know if it’s also being sold in America (their web site doesn’t show it), but it seems strangely un-Japanese. It’s called the Mega Mac, and it is essentially a double Big Mac, or at the very least, a double-Double-Burger. Here’s their graphic for it from their web page:
According to their “nutrition” info, it’s got 750 calories and 46 grams of fat in it. In the regular “set” menu, it includes a medium fries (420 cal., 22g/fat) and a medium coke (140 cal.), for a whopping total of 1,310 calories and 68 grams of fat. For lunch. In Japan. This is not going to help Japan’s fight against recent trends to obesity in a country famous for slim, long-lived people. Which is also why it’s surprising that it’s being sold in Japan, and not in the U.S., where there seems to be more of a trend toward chicken and salad-based meals.
And the amount of fat is pretty disgusting. For a 2000-calorie-per-day diet, the Mega Mac set meal delivers just a tad more than the 65 grams of fat you’re supposed to get, and that’s just for one meal. You’re also getting more than lunch’s share of calories, leaving only about 700 for the other two meals of the day.
If I thought I could get a straight, accurate answer, I’d stop by one of their busier shops and ask how well the Mega Mac was selling. But then, if I could get a straight, accurate answer, I’d almost be afraid to ask.
Am I understanding this ad correctly? It looks like the ????????????? is the Mega Mac, small fries, small drink AND nuggets!?
Yep. At least, that’s the alternate set menu, the standard being the medium coke and fries. Unless, of course, you super-size something. In the summer in Japan, they even have extra-large-sized drink cups, like just short of a liter or so. McD’s here is much more fat- abd sugar-oriented here than I would expect, considering the food tastes and culture and all.
From mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp
McDonald’s Japan limits sales of popular Mega Mac due to low stocks
The popular Mega Mac hamburger.
McDonald’s Japan has been forced to limit sales of its new Mega Mac hamburger to counter low stocks resulting from its huge popularity.
Customers who have been unable to buy the 350 yen hamburgers due to a shortage of stocks are being handed coupons enabling them to buy them next time for 190 yen. The company had planned to sell the hamburgers until Feb. 4, but it is now planning to extend the sales period for at least one week because of their popularity.
The Mega Mac hamburger went on sale in Japan on Jan. 12. It contains four meat patties — twice the number of a regular Big Mac. In the first four days after it went on sale, about 3.32 million of the burgers were sold, doubling the company’s expectations.
Fearing that it would not be able to keep up with demand, the company began limiting the daily number of Mega Macs sold at its stores, from several dozen per day to several hundred per day, depending on the store. It is rare for the company to limit sales of a product.
Following the introduction of the measure, lines have continued to form outside some stores in the heart of Tokyo before opening time, and some restaurants in the chain say they are selling out of the burgers before noon.
Each Mega Mac contains 754 kilocalories of nutritional energy, and the popularity of the hamburger exceeded the restaurant chain’s expectations.
“It’s the first time that we’ve had a shortage of a hamburger,” a company representative said. “I guess the convenience of being able to hold a decent meal in one hand has gotten the thumbs-up, especially from young men.” (Mainichi)