The Fruit McDonald's Malaysia Is Using To Top Their Spicy Chicken Sandwich
If you are in Malaysia, for a limited time at participating locations, you can indulge in McDonald's Spicy Chicken Apple Burger. The burger, as The Fast Food Post writes, consists of a spiced chicken patty, apple slices, lettuce, black pepper mayo, and a lightly toasted bun. There is also a Double Spicy Chicken with Apple Slices that resembles the regular one but boasts two chicken patties. McDonald's has also introduced two new desserts along with the chicken burgers that you can order: an orange custard pie and Chocolate & Pretzel Bits McFlurry.
Though it hasn't been stated, the addition of the new apple-infused chicken sandwich could be a nod to the Malay Rose Apple, a species of apple that Purdue University writes is native to Malaysia. But in a definite nod to their Malaysian consumers, McDonald's has been rebranding itself as Mekdi, as the Malay Mail reported in August 2020. This followed the renaming of the original McDonald's Malaysia in 2019. The name is an embrace of the localized version of the McD nickname, The New Straits Times explains in an article.
McDonald's is going all in on the chicken
With the timing of this promotion being what it is, it is difficult not to see the new, if locally concentrated, Spicy Chicken Apple Burger as separate from McDonald's recent entry into the Chicken Sandwich Wars.
Though the whole chicken sandwich debacle began in 2019, McDonald's, as Restaurant Dive announced, made their entry in January with official releases. These sandwiches, the Crispy Chicken Sandwich, Spicy Chicken Sandwich, and Deluxe Chicken Sandwich, will be nationally available as of Feb. 24.
In a quotation relayed by CNN, Joe Erlinger, president of McDonald's USA, explained to investors in November that "Globally, the chicken category is almost twice the size of beef. It is growing faster and represents a significant opportunity. Developing a reputation for great chicken represents one of our highest aspirations. We want customers to choose McDonald's for chicken."
In that light, though McDonald's Malaysia operates separately, their decision to also push a new spicy chicken sandwich reads as an attempt to cement McDonald's as a chicken sandwich provider worldwide.