Exec Who Created Ronald McDonald Says McDonald’s Can Figure Out All-Day Breakfast

(fredboness)

After years of teasing customers with the possibility of all-day breakfast, McDonald’s has finally begun small-scale testing of the concept in California. The former McDonald’s ad man who gave the world Ronald McDonald and the “You Deserve a Break Today” slogan says he’s sure that the fast food giant will figure out a way to make McMuffins at all hours of the day.

In a post published on BurgerBusiness.com, former McDonald’s head of advertising Barry Klein acknowledges the challenge of making both burgers and breakfast all day — like trying to cook both eggs and meat patties on the same griddle — but points out that McDonald’s has had to work around similar issues a number of times.

“Quarter Pounders took longer to cook… Filet-O-Fish sandwiches couldn’t be cooked in the french fry vats… McCafé drinks required totally new equipment,” recalls Klein, noting that the company still managed to figure out ways to make it happen.

“Sometimes it was the engineers, chefs or operations people at headquarters that developed the equipment or production methods,” he explains, citing the Pittsburgh franchisee who both created the Big Mac and was responsible for adding scrambled eggs, sausage and pancakes to the McDonald’s breakfast lineup.

“That was after Ray Kroc and the Santa Barbara operator created the Egg McMuffin. With all the resources at McDonald’s command, it’s hard to believe that they won’t be able to FIGURE IT OUT,” writes Klein.

And McDonald’s may indeed need to figure it out, as the company is fighting sagging sales in the U.S. If the company can sort out how to offer all-day breakfast, it could boost sales without having to resort to the now-tired trick of limited-time menu offerings that many franchisees say are more of a hassle than a boon to their bottom lines.

by Chris Morran via Consumerist