McDonald's Specialties Worldwide

Here the press release from msnbc.com (and they got it from AP)

McDonald's in Japan offers shrimp burger
Move aimed to lure customers back amid increased competition

TOKYO - Struggling to lure customers back amid increased competition, McDonald's is adding a new item to its menu in Japan: the shrimp burger.

The 270 yen ($2.40), burger, shown to reporters Friday and set to go on sale this month, is the latest effort by the Japan unit of the U.S. fast-food chain to win over Japanese palates -- and spark sales.

McDonald's Japan is also testing other additions, including chicken salad and yogurt.

The hamburger chain with more than 3,700 stores in the world's second largest economy has tried everything from tofu burgers to advertising blitzes to coax diners back to the Golden Arches after the company posted a loss in 2002 amid the mad cow scare.

"Many people who used to come to McDonald's had stopped coming, but they're coming back," said Eikoh Harada, who took over as chief executive in 2004.

Profits at McDonald's Holdings Co. (Japan) Ltd., about 50 percent owned by the U.S. McDonald's Corp., have been gradually recovering since its first loss in 29 years in Japan. Although McDonald's uses Australian beef unaffected by mad cow disease, the fatal brain-wasting ailment, Japanese consumption of beef -- and Big Macs -- dropped sharply at the time.

Found this local specialty on mcdonalds.dk

From as far as my danish goes, it is a classic danish beef sandwich topped with cucumber salad, tartar sauce, mustard and ketchup.

Need to give that a try when I get there.

from McDoanld's PR newswire - 1996

http://www.licenseenews.com/news/news167.html

20. Out of respect for the communities they serve, McDonald's three kosher restaurants (of more than 20) in Israel (Country no.67) are the only McDonald's in the world where you cannot buy a cheeseburger or other dairy products. Similarly, McDonald's restaurants in India (Country no.95) are the only ones in the world where you cannot buy beef - including "Big Macs" - you can, however, purchase an all-lamb version of the sandwich, called a "Maharaja Mac."

24. McDonald's around the world offer the standard menu of hamburgers, chicken and fish sandwiches along with its world-famous french fries. Some markets, however, choose to offer one or two local items to appeal to customer preferences and to offer variety. Some examples are: "McHuevo" in Uruguay (Country no.57), a hamburger with a poached egg on top; "McLaks" in Norway, a grilled salmon sandwich with dill sauce; beer in Germany, and the "Samurai Pork Burger" in Thailand (Country no.36), a sausage patty in teriyaki sauce ... to name a few.

Some things I have encountered myself:

McFlubber (USA, 1997) - Tie in with the Robin Williams movie "Flubber. A hamburger with THREE beef patties. Very greasy in flavour, heart attack inducing :) 99 cents

Kalbi Burger (Japan, 2000) - A burger trying to catch the flavor of korean BBQ

Spicy Chicken Burger (Fiji, 2003) - This one was very nice compared to the yuk McChicken. Real piece of chicken, breaded, great. Better than KFC's Zinger.

Chicken Select (USA, around 1999) - instead of the shredded and formed chicken in the chicken mcnuggets, these were real chicken pieces, breaded, came in boxes of 4, 7 and 10 (so that the staff would not confuse with chicken mcnuggets which come in (4 hammy meal), 6, 9 and 20

Others I heard about:

Chicken Teriyaki Burger (Japan)

OZ Burger (Australia), a burger with beetroot on it !!

Maharaja Mac in India - lamb instead of beef

McPork (Germany) - After the scare with madcow desease, McD in Germany offered this pork based burger.

McChicken'n'Cheese (Fiji, 2005) - chicken burger with a slice of cheese

Chiliburger (Fiji, 2004) - Quarterpounder with a blob of chili sauce

Fish Nuggets (Japan, 2004) - Chicken McNuggets made of fish, served with tartar sauce.

McLaks (Norway) - grilled salmon burger with dill sauce (now that sounds nice :)

Internationally, our restaurants offer our standard menu items, and occasionally develop other items, which appeal to our host country's cultural preferences. Some McDonald's restaurants serve items such as: rice dishes and fried chicken in Japan; beer in Germany; Kiwiburgers in New Zealand; spaghetti in the Philippines; and in Islamic countries, like Saudi Arabia, our restaurants offer a "Halal" menu.

Canada
Cheese, vegetable, pepperoni and deluxe pizza

Uruguay
McHuevo - A hamburger with a poached egg on top

Thailand
Samurai Pork burger - A sandwich marinated with teriyaki sauce

Philippines
McSpaghetti - Pasta in a sauce with frankfurter bits

New Zealand
Kiwiburger - A hamburger with a fried egg and slice of beet

Japan
Chicken Tatsuta - A fried chicken sandwich spiced with soy sauce and ginger

Germany
Frankfurters, beer and a cold four-course meal

Source: http://www.media.mcdonalds.com/secured/products/international/

Title image and text (c) McDonalds

Remember the McFlubber? Chicken Select?

Heard about the McAfrika in Sweden? The Kiwi Burger in New Zealand? Beer at McDonald in Germany?

I am in search of all these wacky things that Mcdonald came up with over the years, local specials, seasonal specials, test items.

Official websites reveal very little and an email to McDonald was returned with "For legal reasons we cannot read any email that has a suggestion" (I suggested to make a website about this, like a McD Museum)

So, I will try to collect all this information here and I need everyone's help. If you know of something special at your McD's, go snap a pick please, or write about. If you have some old ads, or just a cool memory ... let me know and I will post it.

In the days to come I will start writing down all that I know. I also have some fun pics and video's to share (like a drive through experience or eating fishmac / filet-o-fish in Japan.

This site is in now way affiliated with or endorsed by McDonalds. It might occasionally be fueled by a hamburger over dose :)