Random McRib Became A Magical, Mysterious, Disappearing Fast Food Sensation (13 items)

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  (#3) McDonald's Recruited An Executive Chef To Add Credibility To The McRib

  The McRib's success can be credited to two men. Roger Mandigo was the brainchild behind the raw material for the “boneless pork” patty that would become the "US MRE Menu 16 Rib Shaped Barbecue Flavour Pork Patty,” and eventually the McRib. Someone needed to take this log of meat and transform it into a visually appealing, crave-able menu item. That someone was gourmet chef Rene Arend.

  A native of Luxembourg, Arend was a first-in-his-class graduate from the College Technique de Strasbourg and the former chef at Chicago's upscale Whitehall Club. Chef Arend was used to serving royalty when Ray Kroc asked him to switch from fine dining to research and development for McDonald’s.

  The company felt that having a personable and photogenic executive chef as the face behind its new man-made animal proteins would make them more acceptable to the public. This was the first of many marketing tactics McDonald’s would use to sway opinions about restructured meats.
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  (#1) When Burger Sales Sagged In The '70s, McDonald's Turned Its Attention To Chicken And Pork

  The 1970s presented a perfect storm of factors that ultimately culminated in the McRib's development. McDonald's was already feeling pressure from competitors like Wendy’s and Burger King when, in 1977, the federal government passed recommendations that people eat less red meat and consume more low-cholesterol meats like fish and chicken. They even developed a "Hassle-Free Daily Food Guide," complete with a caution symbol next to fats.

  The humble Filet-O-Fish had already been on the McDonald's menu since 1965, but it was never a big seller. So the company set its sights on other white meats. McDonald's had some help in this regard from the National Pork Producers Council, a private trade association founded in 1970 to seek out partnerships with companies like McDonald’s as a way to expand its interests. 
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  (#2) McDonald’s Created The Chicken McNugget And The McRib Using A ‘Restructured Meats’ Technique Developed For The Military

  Purchasing cuts of meat can get expensive, especially when you’re feeding the masses. This was a problem both McDonald’s and the military faced during the '60s and '70s. In a creative twist of genius, animal scientist Roger Mandigo solved their shared issue with the invention of "restructured meats."

  After almost a decade of experimentation, Mandigo came up with a way to safely process the cheapest cuts of meat into palatable meat products. Known as “trimmings,” these cheap cuts of meat include “waste items" like tripe, skin, hearts, and stomachs.

  Mandigo could reduce the size of these parts via a mechanical process known as “comminution,” either flaking, chunking, grinding, chopping, or slicing them up into uniform pieces. The comminuted meat mixture is then mixed with salt and water to extract salt-soluble proteins. This process creates a “glue” that holds the processed meat log together.

  Restructured meats were revolutionary for everything from Military Ready Meals (MREs) to civilian foods like frozen chicken nuggets. In fact, this invention earned Mandigo an induction into the Meat Industry Hall of Fame (yes, that is a thing!).
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  (#13) In 2012, McDonald’s Made History By Requiring That Pork Suppliers Phase Out Pig Crates

  Regardless of whether you view the McRib as the equivalent of eating plastic food, or find it so delicious you patiently await its return, you can celebrate McDonald’s for making its pork products more humane.

  In 2012, the company stopped purchasing pork from companies that use pig gestation crates. These tiny crates provide horrific living conditions and are considered inhumane, yet are still used by factory farmers to this day. (It could be argued that McDonald's lagged more than 10 years behind companies like Chipotle in doing so, but, better late than never.)

  According to the National Pork Producers Council, McDonald’s is one of the largest purchasers of pork. The company buys a hefty 250 million pounds of pork meat each year, thanks in part to the McRib. So, McDonald's stepping up and taking action was a big deal.

  Considering this sandwich is as sure to return as the monster in a horror movie, you can take heart in the fact that you’re eating pork that comes from gestation crate-free farms next time you scarf one down. It’s still restructured meat, but at least it’s humanely restructured meat.
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  (#8) In 1994, The McRib Finally Became A Regular Menu Staple

  The McRib finally earned year-round availability thanks in large part to another unlikely partnership. When the live-action Flintstones movie was released in 1994, McDonald’s marketing heads took note of the similarities between the McRib patty and the Flintmobile’s “slab o' ribs.”

  Entering into a cross-promotion deal with Universal Pictures, the film's studio, McDonald's jumped onto the correlation full-force, rebranding itself as “Roc Donald’s” and incorporating Stone-Age, Flintstonian themes throughout its restaurants. Roc Donald’s-themed Happy and Combo Meals flooded McDonald’s, along with glasses, mugs, and toys.

  McDonald's even filmed a commercial featuring Rosie O'Donnell, one of the film's stars, on a Flintstone’s-like set while eating McRibs with fellow cave-women and men. The marketing was a hit, successfully launching the McRib back into the limelight and back onto McDonald's menus.
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  (#5) The McRib Sandwich Debuted In 1981 And Was A Big Hit In The Midwest

  The McRib was rolled out for testing in various locations in 1981. McDonald’s and all parties involved with making this monumental feat of food technology held their breath in anticipation. Much to McDonald's pleasant surprise, the public did not take to the streets rejecting the McRib, despite the fact that it featured novel processed meats.

  The sandwich was a huge hit in regional areas, especially the Midwest, but received muted responses throughout most of the country. It wasn’t until several years later that the McRib would earn a devoted fandom, both nationwide and beyond.

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