' A&W launched a 'Third is the Word' campaign to advertise their new Third Pounder. It didn't sell, even though it offered more meat for the same price as McDonald's 1/4 pound burger, and was purportedly preferred in terms of taste. The reason that is given for its failure is Americans' misunderstanding of fractions.17 Aug 2021
Why did the A&W 1/3 pound burger fail?
Simply put: the A&W third pounder failed because the average person did not understand fractions. The general consensus was that the public thought a quarter pounder sounded like it was more than a third pounder because the number four is larger than the number three.
Was there a 1/3 Pounder burger?
A thumbnail of the history: The legacy restaurant debuted a 1/3-pound burger in the 1980s to leapfrog off the McDonald's Quarter Pounder's popularity while aiming to improve on the iconic McDonald's product and meet its price point, according to the chain.21 Oct 2021
Who came up with the Quarter Pounder?
— Al Bernardin, inventor of the McDonald's Quarter Pounder, has died of a stroke. He was 81. Mr. Bernardin, a native of Lawrence, Mass., went to work at McDonald's corporate headquarters in 1960 and quickly rose to dean of Hamburger University, McDonald's training center.3 Jan 2010
Why did A and W Fail?
Through focus groups and market research, A&W discovered the shocking reason for the burger's failure most participants thought one-third of a pound was actually smaller than one-fourth. In other words, consumers failed to understand the math and mistakenly thought they were buying less meat for the same price.31 Aug 2021
Is the A&W 1/3 burger story true?
When A&W consulted a marketing firm to get to the bottom of things, they made a perplexing discovery: apparently, customers were struggling to understand that a third of a pound of meat was more than a quarter-pound. Yes, really, the customers actually thought the third pounder weighed less than the Quarter Pounder.23 Oct 2021
Was there ever a 1/3 pound burger?
In the 1980s, A&W attempted to capitalize on the success of the Quarter Pounder—and drum up a little competition for Ronald and friends—by introducing a third-pound burger. The bigger burger gave consumers more bang for their collective buck. It was priced the same as the Quarter Pounder but delivered more meat.26 Feb 2016
Did A&W 1/3 pound burger fail?
A&W had high hopes for its new massive creation and decided to sell it at the same price as the Quarter Pounder, offering more bang for the customer's buck. Following its release, however, the third-pounder failed to take off.23 Oct 2021