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Some of the menu additions have survived until 2018, but many ended up being short-lived.
McDonald's discontinues foods for a number of reasons, whether it's because of poor sales, to make room for a different new item, or because it was a limited-edition product.
Regardless of the reason, you likely won't be able to try McDonald's Hula Burger, McLobster, or Cheddar Melt ever again.
While some of its menu additions have survived until 2018, many were short-lived. McDonald's discontinues items for a number of reasons, whether it's because of poor sales, to make room for a different new item, or because it was a limited-edition product.
Some experimental menu items actually end up costing chains millions, like McDonald's Arch Deluxe, a "gourmet" burger that aimed to appeal to a more adult crowd but failed miserably. McDonald's spent an estimated $150 million to $200 million advertising the Arch Deluxe's rollout, which, at the time, was the most expensive promotional campaign in fast-food history, The New York Times reported.
Other items are meant to be available only for a limited time, like McDonald's Superhero Burger, which promoted a new "Batman" movie in the 1990s. Sometimes, products' flavors just aren't a hit with customers, like the McGratin Croquette, which was made from deep-fried macaroni, shrimp, and mashed potatoes.
Here are some other McDonald's items that didn't make it:
Onion Nuggets were part of McDonald's dollar menu in the '70s, but they were short-lived. The deep-fried onion bits were discontinued shortly after being introduced, but it remains a mystery why.
Even though most locations stopped serving it in the late 1980s, three locations still served McDonald's Pizza until 2017. Now, only one — a McDonald's restaurant in Orlando, Florida — still does.
McDonald's launched mozzarella sticks in late 2015, but customers were furious when they found out that most of their mozzarella sticks didn't actually have cheese in them.
The McAfrika was a PR disaster for McDonald's because it was launched in Norway, one of the world's wealthiest countries, when millions in South Africa were starving. The sandwich was quickly pulled from the menu in 2002.
The McDLT, short for McDonald's Lettuce Tomato, separated the lettuce and tomato from the burger, placing them in separate styrofoam containers for "maximum freshness."
... and breakfast burritos. But the fajitas and breakfast burritos were pulled from the menu in the 1990s, most likely because they couldn't complete with Taco Bell's offerings.
McSpaghetti was introduced in the 1970s. Even though it was discontinued in the United States, it's still on the menu internationally, in the Philippines.
McDonald's founder Ray Kroc said in his autobiography that the chain would never sell hot dogs because of quality concerns, but McDonald's launched the McHotdog in 1995 anyway.
The McJordan Special, which was also known as the Big 33 in honor of Michael Jordan, is the first fast-food sandwich to be named after a person, according to Complex. It was only offered for a limited time.
McDonald's started offering super-sized meals in 1993, but the option to "super-size" anything was taken away in 2004, after the documentary "Super Size Me" was released.
Cheeseburgers were removed from the Happy Meal menu in February in what McDonald's head of global nutrition told Business Insider was "a gentle nudge in encouraging more positive choices." You can still order cheeseburgers separately, however.
