McDonald’s Corp. is giving chicken tenders another run.
Four years after removing Chicken Selects from the menu, the Oak Brook, Ill.-based quick-service operator is bringing back chicken tenders with the nationwide introduction this week of Buttermilk Crispy Tenders.
The tenders are made with white meat chicken and no artificial flavors, colors or preservatives, and are seasoned, battered and breaded. The tenders are available in four-, six- or 10-piece servings.
Customers can choose from nine different sauces to accompany the tenders: Creamy Ranch, Honey, Honey Mustard, Hot Mustard, Spicy Buffalo, Sriracha Mac Sauce, Sweet ‘n Sour, Tangy Barbecue and a new Signature Sauce.
The tenders are a permanent addition to McDonald’s menu and part of a broader effort by the chain to improve its offerings.
McDonald’s began offering breakfast all day in 2015, and this year added a selection of semi-customizable sandwiches. The chain has also removed artificial ingredients from a number of items, committed to the use of cage-free eggs, began using real butter in its McMuffin sandwiches and eliminated the use of human antibiotics in its chicken.
“Our new buttermilk Crispy Tenders are another example of how we’re giving customers the food they love,” McDonald’s chef Michael Haracz said in a statement.
To promote the tenders, McDonald’s is giving customers the opportunity to receive limited-edition posters depicting each of the nine sauces on Oct. 7, starting at 2 p.m. local time at select restaurants with the purchase of the new menu item.
McDonald’s enlisted the Delicious Design League, a creative studio in Chicago, to design the dipping sauce-themed posters. The chain will give away 1,000 posters.
“Limited-edition, illustrated, screen-printed posters have really taken off in recent years, expanding from music to TV to movies, games and now, McDonald’s sauces,” Billy Baumann, co-owner of Delicious Design League, said in a statement.
Chicken Selects were a permanent item on McDonald’s menu from 2002 through 2013. They were briefly brought back in 2015, but the item never sold well enough to warrant permanent placement, especially given pressure on the chain to simplify its menu.
But McDonald’s got a taste of success with Buttermilk Crispy Chicken in 2015, leading to the development of the tenders. The chain tested the tenders in Charlotte, N.C., and Alabama earlier this year.
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