The McRib is back. Again. The sandwich with a cult-like following will be released nationally through November 14. McDonald's official website is pimping out McRib's return by describing the sandwiches with brazen alliteration -- tantalizingly tart pickles, sensationally savory onions, magnificently mouthwatering boneless rib and sweetly sumptuous barbecue sauce. All this is ushered by pensive, animated gnomes wearing pirate hats and beautiful butterfly wings.
The Washington City Paper ran a blog post yesterday with a food porn-worthy shot and some colorful commentary. Says Chris Shott of the sandwich, "The flavor reminds me of some semi-decent airline food that I had on British Airways back in the mid-'90s".
D Magazine got in on the fun too. Just this morning they posted an announcement stating the sandwich already had more comebacks than Donnie and Marie.
Food critics love picking on fast food. Sam Sifton of The New York Times reviewed KFC's Double Down for his Diner's Journal Blog, calling the all chicken sandwich "a disgusting meal, a must-to-avoid". Francis Lam followed suit with a bite-by-bite take down of what he called a dare pretending to be a lunch.
But even in poking fun of the meal, they're still handing the chain restaurant free advertisement. It kind of reminds me of this guy. With the McRib, McDonald's has found its unicorn. A sandwich it can dangle over the Twittersphere, Facebook and the rest of the Internet and know that the masses will take the bait and run.
Not that it's not fun. Check out what City of Ate did to the McRib last year.
