McDonald's Is Running Out of Beef Because the Travis Scott Meal Is So Popular
If you’ve used the internet or turned on a TV in the past week or two, you may be aware that McDonald’s is serving up a “Travis Scott Meal,” turning the Houston-bred musician (who refuses to brand himself as a hip-hop artist) into the first celebrity since Michael Jordan to have their name attached to a menu item served by the iconic fast food chain.
There’s nothing really that unique about the Travis Scott Meal, beyond the addition of bacon to a Quarter Pounder with Cheese and a preference for dipping fries into bbq sauce instead of ketchup. Still, the mere clout associated with the #1-selling, Fortnite-rapping “Cactus Jack” was enough for it to sell like crazy. So crazy, in fact, that its popularity is causing issues in the McDonald’s supply chain.
Aided by memes inspiring youths to order the meal using some of Scott’s catchphrases, in-song ad lbs, and even rapping the lyrics to “Sicko Mode,” sales of the Travis Scott Meal are causing real logistical headaches at the golden arches. According to a McDonald’s memo cited by Restaurant Business Online, the company has acknowledged that supplies of key ingredients have run low or even run out at certain locations where the meal is selling particularly well.
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“Some restaurants have had so many fans stop by, they’re temporarily running short of some key ingredients,” the memo reads. “We’re working diligently with our suppliers and distributors to redirect supply to those restaurants, but some may deplete supply of several key ingredients, including Quarter Pounder beef, bacon, slivered onions or shredded lettuce.”
Things are even at the point where franchises are receiving Scott-branded signs meant to let customers know that they might not find what they’re looking for: “Sould out! Straight up [a Scott catchphrase]. Due to popular demand we are temporarily out of Quarter Pounder burgers,” they read according to RBO.
Going forward, the McDonald’s memo suggests the Travis Scott Meal will become a digital-only offer, at least from September 22 through October 4. This’ll let Scott’s more tech-savvy fans continue ordering while hopefully mitigating some of the demand that’s causing beef and bacon bottlenecks.
Of course, it’s hard to feel bad for McDonald’s given how much money they’ve made off a new menu item that required no R&D on their part whatsoever. Hopefully whenever they come out with the Drake or Lebron or Megan Thee Stallion meal, they’ll have all the beef they need.
