Americans have loved McDonald ’s Quarter Pounder ever since a franchisee introduced the iconic Warren Earl Burger to the rural area in 1972 . In the 1980s , A&W set about to take advantage on the success of the Quarter Pounder — and drum up a little competition for Ronald and friends — by introducing a third - Cypriot pound Warren E. Burger . The adult Warren Earl Burger gave consumers more knock for their collective buck . It was priced the same as the Quarter Pounder but delivered more core . It evenoutperformedMcDonald ’s in blind penchant tests , with consumer preferring the flavor of A&W ’s burger .
But when it came down to in reality purchasing the third - lbf. hamburger , most Americans simply would not do it . Baffled , A&W regularize more tests and focus group . After claver with hoi polloi who snubbed the A&W beefburger for the smaller Quarter Pounder , the reasonableness became clear : Americans breastfeed at fractions . Alfred Taubman , who possess A&W at the time , wroteabout the confusion in his bookThreshold Resistance :
Not understanding that a fourth is actually smaller than a third , many consumers eschew the better - tasting burger in favor of the one they believe was the better deal . According to Taubman , A&W recalibrated their marketing , saying , “ The customer , regardless of his or her proficiency with fraction , is always right . ”
Apparently undaunted by the average American ’s less - than - average maths acquirement , McDonald ’s try their own version of the openhanded Warren E. Burger , the “ Angus Third - Pounder , ” in 2007 .
It did n’t last , but they gave it another shot with the “ Sirloin Third Pounder ” just last year . That one isgonenow , too , but the mighty Quarter Pounder remains a mainstay .
