Hula Burger

by McDonald's

1962 – 1962 GONE FOREVER

Gone — the Hula Burger never reached the permanent menu and disappeared after the 1962 contest. McDonald's has never revived it, though the company still tells the story on itself.

Ray Kroc's meatless Friday sandwich: a grilled slice of pineapple and two pieces of cheese on a bun, built so Catholic customers would have something to order during Lent. It went head to head with a fried fish sandwich and lost about as badly as anything has ever lost in fast food.

🧾 One more thingThe showdown was real and somebody counted. On Good Friday in 1962, McDonald's sold both sandwiches and tallied 350 Filet-O-Fish against six Hula Burgers. Kroc had bet a colleague a new suit that pineapple would win, and the fish sandwich he had resisted — he did not want his restaurants smelling of it — went on to become the first item ever added to the permanent menu.

Filed under: Fast Food · the ’70s & earlier

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