William Wei / Business Insider

McDonald's has 10 million pounds of Mighty Wings it needs to sell soon.

The wings, which represent 20% of the chicken wings produced for a promotion, are in frozen storage, writes Julie Jargon at The Wall Street Journal.

McDonald's was "unable to sell enough," according to Jargon.

Earlier this year, CEO Don Thompson said that the chicken wings aren't the smash success it had hoped for.

While Mighty Wings apparently met internal targets, the item "was not strong enough to offset" weak sales trends, Thompson said on a conference call.

Here are some of the reasons they flopped.

Price: In McDonald's terms, Mighty Wings are a premium product. The wings come in packs of three for $3.69, five for $5.59, and 10 for $9.69. Thompson said the prices, which are similar to Buffalo Wild Wings, were “not the most competitive.”

Spice: Thompson said the wings were too spicy for many customers' tastes.

Appearance: The Mighty Wings looked too much like "McNuggets with bones," writes Susan Berfield at Bloomberg Businessweek.

Economy: Many McDonald's customers are still struggling financially—and are more likely to spend their hard-earned money on a tried-and-true favorite.

The fast food giant is currently implementing a plan to get rid of the wings.





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