McDonald's responds to complaints about its new cheesy fries, apologises for 'cheesing off' diners

Facebook user Vivienne Oh posted a photo of her Angus Mushroom Supreme meal with Cheesy Loaded Fries ($10.30) and said she "didn't even have bacon bits". PHOTO: FACEBOOK/VIVIENNE OH

SINGAPORE - McDonald's Singapore has responded to complaints about its new cheese fries, apologising for "cheesing off" diners and saying it has increased the amount of sauce.

In a cheesy Facebook post on Monday (Dec 11), McDonald's wrote: "We know that sweet dreams are made of cheese (and sour cream) and it's nacho fault. We've relooked our processes to ensure that we load up the right amount of sauces so you won't get cheesed-off."

The fast-food chain introduced its Cheesy Loaded Fries last week, along with its collection of Angus burgers.

The fries cost $4.20 a la carte, while fries in regular meals can be upgraded to cheesy fries for 20 cents from a large meal. Upgrades from medium meals cost an additional 80 cents.

The fries are described as McDonald's "golden iconic fries, made even tastier with crispy chicken bacon bits, sprinkled over savoury sour cream and nacho cheese".

Fries lovers flocked to the chain, but many were disappointed by what they said were fries with not enough cheese and bacon.

McDonald's received multiple complaints on its Facebook page alone, with several diners posting pictures of what they deem are unsatisfactory fries.

Facebook user Brice Tan posted a photo of the fries and asked: "Where is the cheese?"

He added that the chain may as well not give any cheese since there was so little.

Vivienne Oh posted a photo of her Angus Mushroom Supreme meal with Cheesy Loaded Fries ($10.30) and said she "didn't even have bacon bits".

"(The) fries are not salted at all, too. An astronomical waste of calories and cash," she wrote.

Several users compared the fries with KFC's cheese fries, which cost $4.70.

Zulkifli Mamat wrote: "Go and try KFC cheese fries. That's the standard."

KFC was not unaware of the online chatter - a day after McDonald's launched its cheese fries, the fried chicken chain launched an ad on its Facebook page with the hashtag #KFCRealCheeseFries.

It posted a video of fries laden with golden cheese and mayo, with the slogan "The Real Deal", advertising its "crispier and tastier" fries that were "new" and "improved".

A McDonald's spokesman told ST on Tuesday that they were disappointed to hear that some of its customers "didn't have the best experience" when it launched its Cheesy Loaded Fries.

"Since then, we've taken steps to make sure our Fries are 'loaded' right - by ensuring that both the nacho cheese and savoury sour cream are dispensed in appropriate amounts, and reinforcing procedures in our restaurants - so that we deliver on our promise of delicious Cheesy Loaded Fries," said the spokesman.

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