I was at work one day and I met a McDonalds Executive. I asked her why the McRib Sandwich, albeit popular, remains a limited time item. If it’s so popular why not have it be a permanent item on the menu? Her response came to be a tad startling and almost unbelievable. She said: Whenever we release the McRib sandwich, it actually depletes the world’s population of pigs by such a significant amount that it can only be a limited time item on the menu." Implying that the McRib sandwich would drive pigs to extinction! Is there any truth to this? Are Americans so McRib-Happy that we literally drain the world’s supply of pork so we can eat McRib Sandwiches? If it were a permanent item, would there be long lines at restaurants, and people eating McRibs with rib sauce dripping from the chins of their euphoric faces?? Why hasn’t the Whopper done the same to cows??? I’m just being a clown,(no pun intended) but I want to know is there any truth to this?
If that were true, the price of pork would go up, the price of a McRib sandwich would go up, and the demand would decrease and settle to a level dictated by supply and demand.
Hmmm… Interesting. Then that takes me back to my original question. Why is it always for a limited time???
Total bull (as it were.) If the silly thing were on the menu for longer, people would quickly realize that it is a sub-standard piece of inferior pork slathered in sugar-ridden sauce and stop buying it. By keeping it a “limited item” McD’s banks on peoples memories fading as to how bad the McRib really is.
The pig shortage idea is silly. I heard that there were so many non-pig-eating countries that it wasn’t profitable as a permanent worldwide menu item. Not sure that makes sense either.
Not sure it makes sense, but what you said doesn’t make sense just by how McDonald’s treats all its other items on the menu. For instance, if you really want to frustrate a McDonald’s employee, walk in during breakfast time, and ask for a McGriddle with eggs and cheese ONLY. It actually requires a manager override. I did this once in a hicktown in Georgia and It took two managers and the cashier a full 10 minutes of arguing over the best way to ring it up. Classic. It’s almost as if McDonald’s is saying: EVERYONE eats pork for breakfast… Didn’t you know???
I’ve ordered Egg and Cheese Biscuits any number of times in any number of places and never had any issues with leaving off the bacon or sausage. I wonder why a non-meat McGriddle is an issue.
I was with you right up until “…and stop buying it.” 
WAG based on the way that the chain I work for does things;
Asking to have an ingredient left off of a sandwich doesn’t decrease the price of the sandwich in the same way that, say, adding an extra patty would increase its price. Ergo, ringing up a Sausage McGriddle (no sausage) would cost the same as a regular Sausage McGriddle - the customer is still paying for the sausage they aren’t getting. This has probably upset more than one customer who’s tried to order one that way, so it becomes necessary to either have a manager put a discount on the sandwich to make up for the missing ingredient, or to ring up the sandwich in an unorthodox manner (like ringing the bun, egg, and cheese as separate items, which may or may not be possible depending on how the POS software is implemented) in order to give the customer a “fair” price.
It’s only an isue at mcdonalds. Order an egg & cheese Croissanwich at burger king and it takes about 3 seconds. It’s only a problem for Mickey D’s.
And, of course, more people would go into the pig-raising business to take advantage of the increased prices, thus increasing the supply, also, with the same effect.
And this would increase the amount of pig feces in the world, making it more likely it would get converted to biodiesel. This would drop the price of biodiesel enough to make it competitive with real diesel, causing the price of oil to drop, destabilizing the Middle East and forcing the House of Saud to launch their nukes and end it all.
ROCKS FALL EVERYONE DIES.
So tell me… is another McRib really worth it?
While the McRib is popular in the short run, over time the demand drops. It works better as a short-term item, where people are more willing to pay more for it. Pretty much every new item adds a strain on the McDonald’s system, and they have to be pretty profitable to work out. If you think about it, the McRib adds the sauce, the patty, the bun, and the box into the system, which takes up space and extra production time. The Angus burgers were supposed to be limited time only for the same reason but they were successful enough to stick around.
While we’re on the subject, what is the point of repeatedly bringing back an item as a limited time item? For example, Pepsi Throwback has been twice rereleased and yet Pepsi is still dithering on whether it should be an everyday item. Doesn’t the costs with short term releases override the publicity value of a limited time item?
Are you guys sure it’s not done like this completely on purpose as a marketing gimmick? If something that was intended to be a one-off turns out to be really popular, why not just release it once a year and get some media stirring going on as opposed to being on the menu as a normal item, how does that get your name in the news?
The McRib, as far as I am concerned, tastes nothing like the sandwich I ate when it first came out. Besides the fact that New Pork doesn’t taste anything like the original, the sauce sucks.
My theory is they change the recipe each time and track how well it does. If it ever hits it off they may make it a permanent item.
For another reference, look to the steak bagel, it is a very different taste from when it came out and became popular enough to go day to day.
Just my observation though, not very scientific I know.
This is what I’ve always assumed.
From my memory, it’s always tasted like shitty sugared pork. I try it once about every two years to see if I’ve changed my evaluation of it but, alas, no. I haven’t noticed any difference in it.
I’ve never tasted a McRib. Should I rush out and buy McJillions of them before it goes off the McMenu?
FWIW, it is permanently on the menu in McDonald’s restaurants in Germany.
That’s because those clever Germans have genetically engineered a pig with 512 ribs on each side, thus permanently solving the problem identified in the OP.