McRibbed For Your Pleasure

Well, it's that magical time.  McDonald's has decided to bring back one of their cult following sandwiches for the summer.  Folks, in case the Double Down has been stealing all the limelight, may I take a moment to remind you that the McRib is back?

That's not from my cellphone cam...I brought my real camera down to McDonald's to get a good picture

What is it about this burger-like creation?  What is it that drives people mad for it?

Because I tell you, I have one every time McDonald's brings it back, and one is usually enough.  I mean, we always rally against fast food and how it tastes so plastic and artificial and processed...no fast food creation tastes more plastic and artificial and processed than the McRib. 

For those who've never had the pleasure, the McRib is a pork (or, at the very least, pork-like) patty smothered in BBQ sauce and topped with pickles and onions on a sesame seed roll.

Introduced at McDonald's in 1981, it tested well enough that they added it to the regular menu.  However, sales were always sluggish, and it was removed from the regular menu in 1985.  It's been a seasonal item ever since.  Last time McDonald's had it here in Canada was around three years ago.  Before that...wow, I think it was the tie-in to the live-action Flintstones movie back in 1994. 

The McRib has become a pop culture icon.  Who can forget that classic Simpsons episode where Homer goes across the USA tracking down the "Ribwich."  So what is it about it that makes the McRib so beloved?

The taste sensation that people kill for

I think that, at the end of the day, it's not taste that make people crave the McRib.  It's the marketing.  It's the whole limited time ploy.  Get one now, because it'll be gone next week.  If you don't act on your impulses and get a McRib today, you'll have to repress yourself for the next five years! 

So, yeah.  Get it before it's gone.  Five little words that make me buy a lot more than I really should.