McDonald’s is spending all sorts of money, hiring celebrity endorsers like Russel Wilson and Colin Kaepernick (and erecting poo-like sculptures) to market the fast food giant’s Mighty Wings. But some franchisees say they just can’t compete on price with less expensive wings available at your local sports bar.

BurgerBusiness.com reports on a new survey of McD’s franchisees that found praise for the wings, but disdain for the sticker price.

“Hard to sell for $1 per wing when we still have the Dollar Menu,” explains one franchisee.

Adds another owner, “Pricing seems high when many retailers are offering for as low as 25¢ at happy hour.”

There is also concern that the Mighty Wings are not, unlike most wing products, served already drenched in a sauce. Instead, customers are expected to dip the wings into a variety of sauce options.

“[I]f it doesn’t have hot sauce then it is just a piece of chicken. It’s running less than 2% of sales,” says one owner who says the wings only account for 2% of sales, while another chimes in that “it’s just plain dumb to offer so many dipping sauces.”

And it’s not like the franchisees are making a profit on the pricey wings, as $.47 of each dollar paid for the wings is going to pay for the product.

One franchisee questions whether or not the near-constant turnover of limited-time menu offerings has reach the point of diminishing returns.

“New product introductions don’t seem to interest customers any more. Maybe we’ve overdone it,” suggests the owner. “It seems we are wasting millions on advertising and getting nothing for it.”

McFranchisees Question Mighty Wings Pricing [BurgerBusiness]

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