Hacking McDonald's Golden Arches

Hack: v. to use a computer to gain unauthorized access to data in a system.

But when did the word "hack" come to be used as a term for breaking into a computer system instead of just roughly chopping something up? According to tripwire.com, the current use of "hack" started in 1961 with MIT's Tech Model Railroad Club. They modified their train sets to perform different functions and called it hacking. Next, they moved on to expensive computers, "hacking" them to create new programs and make them perform even better than they did before. Hacking was a positive thing, like souping up your car to make it faster and louder. It wasn't until the 1980s when personal computers started making a big emergence that hacking for gain, profit or plain old nefarious reasons that the stage was set to make hacking something negative, mysterious, illegal, and no-good.

Enter McDonald's in 2022. The big promotion there right now is to hack their menu, creating new and amazing combinations, veritable frankensandwiches made of pieces of existing menu items. I think McDonald's is hoping to tap into both sides of the word "hack," bringing to mind something that may be better than the original, and also something dangerous, unusual, maybe a little naughty. Now, McDonald's won't make the new sandwich for you. You have to buy the individual pieces and assemble it yourself. You can order them by name and McDonald's will give you what you need to make it. Like any other food sensation out there, I had to try it. Let's talk about how they tasted.

Hashbrown McMuffin: Sausage McMuffin with egg and cheese, and a hashbrown. The only breakfast hack, this one was solid, especially if you like a good hash for breakfast. Put the hashbrown on your McMuffin and voila! I think the hashbrowns lost some of their crunchiness in the combination, but the sandwich held together, and I could taste all of the individual parts. The sausage was strong enough to come out on top of the flavors, but this was a decent hack.

Surf & Turf (this is an app exclusive, so you can only order it by name when ordering on the McDonald's app): Double cheeseburger and a Filet O' Fish. Separate the beef patties and place the Filet O'Fish and one of it's buns in the middle. I kept as much of the tartar sauce with the fish as I could and dug in. This one just felt like a bulked-up burger. The beef and ketchup absolutely overwhelmed the delicate fish flavor and made the whole purpose of combining them useless.

The McDonald's hack called Land, Air & Sea hits all of the proteins and stretches the jaws.Submitted by Rebecca LaClair

Crunchy Double: a double cheeseburger topped with chicken nuggets with BBQ sauce dip. I managed to get three nuggets on top of my double cheeseburger comfortably and put the whole tub of BBQ sauce on top. The nuggets did give the sandwich crunch and contributed flavor, but the BBQ sauce was the star here. It made the whole sandwich saucy and a little spicy. This one was my favorite, but I think it was just because of the sauce. I believe I could have put BBQ sauce on a double cheeseburger and enjoyed it just as much.

Land, Air & Sea: a Big Mac, a McChicken (Hot 'n Spicy if you dare), and a Filet O' Fish. Here, the sandwich was huge and towering, as you would expect. I put the chicken on top of the top beef patty, and the fish on top of the bottom ... and the whole thing tasted overwhelmingly of the McChicken and its mayo. This one was the most disappointing. There was too much going on to appreciate the different components, and none of them really worked together.

I ordered nine menu items to make all of the hacks, at a cost well north of $30. I threw away four bun halves that weren't needed in the combos. I tried things that I had never thought to try before, and I had lots and lots of leftovers. I have to admit, it was fun (and messy) to make the new sandwiches, like I was some sort of mad fast-food "chef."

Were the hacks an improvement on the original, like back in the 1960s when hacking meant improving the function? Or were they hacks like predominated the 1980s, nefarious and more than a little naughty? I'll let you decide.