McDonald's adds chicken wings to menu in select cities

Chicago - This week McDonald's is launching chicken wings in a limited market. The new item, "Mighty Wings", will be only offered for a limited time.

Fast food giant McDonald's added chicken wings to its menu this week in select cities. The new menu item was confirmed by the fast food giant yesterday, reported the Chicago Tribune. "Mighty Wings" will be offered in about 500 Chicago area locations and will be sold in three, five and 10-piece portions with ranch or buffalo sauce as a condiment option. The wings are anticipated to start at around $2.99. The product had been tested in Atlanta last year with success, reported the Telegram (via Associated Press), but McDonald's says it will not expand Mighty Wings to other markets at this time. Although, as WTVR News reported, it is not uncommon for fast food chains to slowly introduce new items before a national launch to see how consumers respond. Currently, as the fast food giant's sales dropped for the first time in October, McDonald's is also finding high competition with other fast food chains, such as Wendy's and Burger King. Those two companies have been actively strategizing to revamp their images and add new menu items to their offerings. Wendy's had previously announced in Oct. 2012 it was planning a new logo launch in March 2013. “We are improving the total customer experience, with bold restaurant designs, fresh product innovation, more engaging advertising and digital media advancements,” said Emil Brolick, President and Chief Executive Officer of Wendy's had said in the fall. “The transformation is already resonating with consumers and we’re building momentum." Along with facing active competition that appears to be finding success, the Associated Press also noted that McDonald's is facing a balancing act. It needs to keep up with competition, but also the price of chicken wings is currently up. This might make wings hard to introduce as a long-term menu item since it may be found to be too costly to price at a value to the consumer. Then again, it is possible McDonald's may strategize wings to be one of those items consumers never know when or where they'll pop up. Could Mighty Wings become one of the chain's annual limited time offers that show up on the menu once a year? After all, the company has found high success with non-routine menu items such as the McRib and the Shamrock Shake. If chicken wings came to a McDonald's near you, would you try them?