The 'Biggest Mistake' Made by This Popular Fast Food Chain in Mai

This fast food chain, with 61 locations in Maine, once made a mistake so big that they never announced how much money they lost from it.

Listen, we get it—nobody’s perfect, and everyone makes mistakes. But when those mistakes start costing you, your business, or someone else real money, that’s when the forgiving shrugs turn into sharper, less-friendly stares.

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That said, what exactly are we talking about when we refer to a fast food chain’s biggest mistake—or really, any chain’s biggest blunder? How do you even measure something like that?

LoveFood compiled its list of the biggest fast food chain mistakes by reviewing some of the most infamous marketing disasters, product flops, and operational blunders in the industry’s history. Their countdown ranks these high-profile failures from bad to worst, highlighting how each misstep unfolded and the chaos it caused.

With that in mind, which fast food chain’s mistake ranked as the absolute worst—and more importantly, what did they actually do?

According to LoveFood and their list titled ‘Fast Food Chains’ Biggest Mistakes, Ranked’—which in this case highlights (or rather, lowlights) major blunders—their pick for the very worst mistake was McDonald’s promotion for the 1984 Olympic Games.

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In 1984, McDonald’s ran a promotion promising free Big Macs, fries, or drinks to customers with game cards matching U.S. medal wins at the Olympics.

LoveFood goes on to say that the idea backfired when the Soviet Union pulled out, and the U.S. dominated with 174 medals. Additionally, some locations reportedly ran low on food altogether. While the company never revealed the total cost, The New York Times described it as 'mind-boggling.'

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And there you have it! McDonald’s 1984 Olympic promotion was a win for American pride and American appetites, but it ended up being a disaster for McDonald’s bottom line.

What do you think of McDonald’s biggest mistake? Had you ever heard about this before? We’d love to hear from you—join the conversation by messaging us on the app!