The McRib makes a McComeback

[Teh One Who Knocks]

By CHRISTINA REXRODE AP Business Writer




NEW YORK (AP) - The McRib, the elusive sandwich that has inspired a cult-like following, is back.

McDonald's Corp. announced Monday that the boneless barbecue pork sandwich, usually available in only a few stores at a time, will be sold at all U.S. locations through Nov. 14.

Most of the time, it's up to local franchises to determine when and if they want to sell the McRib - except in Germany, the only place where it's available perennially. But McDonald's said the response was so great last November when it made the McRib available nationally for about three weeks that it decided to bring it back this year. The company, which previously hadn't sold the McRib nationally since 1994, declined to give specific sales numbers.

The sandwich, which is dressed with onions, pickle slices and barbecue sauce, was introduced nationally in 1982. With 500 calories and 26 grams of fat, it's slightly trimmer than the Big Mac, which has 540 calories and 29 grams of fat. And just like the Big Mac, the McRib has become a popular McDonald's offering.

There are Facebook groups like "Bring Back the McRib!!!" There are Twitter tags, where posts range from "Lucky me, the McRib is back" to "If you eat McRibs, you need to re-evaluate what it is you actually want in life." Last year, the guy who won McDonald's $1 million Monopoly grand prize was ordering - you guessed it - a McRib. Earlier this month, former Playmate Jenny McCarthy contacted the McRib Locator website for help finding a McRib in southern California: She got one in Fountain Valley.

The website's creator, Alan Klein, said he suspected something was up when traffic exploded from about 150 hits a day to about 4,000 in the past week or so, as more fans reported sightings. People are sending him photos of their McRib variations: the McRib with lettuce and tomato, the McRib with bacon, three McRibs stacked on top of each other.

Klein, a meteorologist in the Minneapolis area, runs the website in his spare time with help from his wife, Kimberly. He created the Locator in 2008 because he wanted to learn how to use the Google Maps program for work, and because he had fond memories of eating the pork sandwich while growing up on a hog farm.

"We've been spoiled this year and last year with it being around nationwide," he said. "But I hope it stays elusive because otherwise nobody will come to our website."

If the McRib is so popular, why not just offer it all the time? McDonald's likes to stoke the enthusiasm with an aura of transience.

"Bringing it back every so often adds to the excitement," said Marta Fearon, McDonald's U.S. marketing director, who added that she's not sure if the McRib will reappear in stores every fall.

And how can it be called a McRib if it doesn't have any bones? Said Fearon: "That gives it this quirky sense of humor."

[Muddy]

I used to love this fukkin thing back in the day....

[Teh One Who Knocks]

It's awesome....I hope it shows up in Denver. I haven't had one in f-o-r-e-v-e-r

[Muddy]

I know it sounds ghetto.. But when I was a kid, my grandmother (Cadillac driving high brow) and myself would always make a weekly pilgrimage to Mickey D's for the coveted McRib sandwich..

[Teh One Who Knocks]

That doesn't sound ghetto, it sounds very cool


The only thing I never understood (and still don't) about the McRib is why they put pickles on it

[Muddy]

Yeah I dunno.. I used to eat it all..

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Not me, I hate pickles

[Muddy]

I love Dill pickles.. Sweet ones, not so much..

[Teh One Who Knocks]

[Muddy]

I like to wrap my McRib in a nice towel as well...

[Hal-9000]

I can't recall having one...I know that they look like a little rack of ribs without bones and I also know some heavy engineering went into it to make it look like smeat

[Muddy]

It's total smeat... Thats what makes it good...

[Hal-9000]

preformed smeat is ambrosia


they're talking about 3 of them stacked high with bacon!

[Muddy]

Dont go too far...

[Hal-9000]

Okay....3 of them on a bun topped with bacon.Dipped in that warm nacho cheese crap from 7/11....and a side of chicken smeat with BBQ sauce to wash it all down with


I just came in the back of my pants a little..