Featured Image Credit: Tim Boyle/Getty Images / Getty Stock Images
Topics: McDonalds, Food and Drink
Callum Jones
Topics: McDonalds, Food and Drink
When you think of McDonald's food the likes of a Big Mac, nuggets and fries will often come to mind.
Well, Maccies came close to adding bubblegum broccoli to that list.
Bubble gum-flavored broccoli honestly does sound like one of Willy Wonka's rejected ideas, but its story in the real world is far from fictional.
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Speaking at an event in 2014, former McDonald's chief executive Don Thompson said the idea behind the broccoli was to encourage kids to eat healthier, according to Business Insider.
So, why did the bizarre broccoli never seen the light of day? Well, it didn't pass the taste test.
Apparently adding a sweet flavour to the green does not make the vegetable any more appetizing to kids.
"It wasn't all that," Thompson said.
In fact, he told the audience at the time that the kids were confused by the taste of the broccoli so it never made it to the menu.
While McDonald's withdrew plans to introduce the broccoli, the then-CEO said parents have to make food choices for their kids themselves.
"You can't ask a business to do things that you as a parent won't do yourself," he said.
Instead of its bizarre broccoli offering, Thompson said Maccies had reduced its fries portions and added low fat yogurts to its Happy Meals to encourage healthier choices.
The discussion surrounding the McDonald's broccoli has recently resurfaced thanks to a post on the r/Dammthatsinteresting Reddit forum.
"McDonald’s once invented bubblegum-flavored broccoli to encourage kids to eat healthier, but it never made it on to the menus because the child testers were confused by the taste," one Redditor posted.
And many have flocked to the comments section of the Reddit post to give their thoughts.
"All I heard is McDonalds tried to play God and lost," one person wrote.
"Seriously this is a crime. Broccoli is awesome on its own if prepped right with dip. This looks more like a poor tree defiled by a beet. The root of evil," a second added.
"How do you make vegetables appealing to kids? How about you, gee, I don't know, SEASON THEM? Plate them nicely? Pair them with other desirable foods???" a third exclaimed.
While a fourth remarked: "Yes, I can see how child testers were confused about how the children tasted."
While the broccoli didn't see the light of day in the past, maybe it will in the future.
Then again, maybe not.