McDonald’s announced changes to its signature burgers earlier this week, including adding more Big Mac sauce. Now, it’s giving fans a way to get even more sauce.
Starting next week, for a limited time, customers who order through the app will be able to get Big Mac sauce in a dip cup from participating locations. In a nod to the original blue and silver Big Mac packaging, the dip cup is blue.
While this is the first time the sauce will be available in this form, it’s not the first time that McDonald’s has given customers a chance at more sauce: Back in 2017, the chain gave away 10,000 bottles to enthusiastic fans.
McDonald’s has been focusing on promoting its core items, a way to build buzz without introducing complexities into kitchens that new products could bring.
Dipping sauces, which don’t require employees to add an ingredient to burgers or make a whole new menu item, are another way the company hopes to keep things simple while getting customers excited. Last year, McDonald’s brought back its Szechuan sauce for a limited time. Some celebrity meals also came with re-branded dipping sauces, or ones that had previously only been available in certain regions.
The deal is also a way to drive traffic to the McDonald’s app, giving the chain more information about customer ordering habits and preferences.
Another way for McDonald’s (MCD) to promote its core items is to try to make them, simply, better.
Earlier this week, McDonald’s said that it is making a series of changes to the Big Mac and the McDouble burger, as well as the classic cheeseburger, double cheeseburger and hamburger. The changes include softer buns, gooier cheese, adding onions to patties right on the grill and adding more Big Mac sauce. In 2018, McDonald’s announced that it was switching to fresh beef for its Quarter Pounders; and in 2021, it launched a crispy chicken sandwich to replace previous iterations.