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McDonald's Elusive McRib Makes A Comeback

Paul J. Richards
/
AFP/Getty Images

At this point the McRib has become American folklore. The boneless pork sandwich slathered in barbeque sauce is only sold whenever each individual McDonald's franchise feels like selling it. So — probably because of elusiveness — it's developed a cult-like following.

The AP reports that McRib hunters will be very happy, because the fast-food behemoth is doing what it did last year and asking its restaurants nationwide to sell the sandwich through Nov. 14.

The AP reports:

It's usually up to the local franchise to decide if or when to sell the McRib. (Except in Germany, the only place where it's available year-round, McDonald's says.) But last November, for the first time in 16 years, McDonald's made the McRib available at all U.S. restaurants for about three weeks.

It was a smash, and while McDonald's declined to provide specific sales numbers, it was enough to convince the world's largest burger chain to give it another run.

If the McRib is really so popular, why not just offer it all the time? McDonald's has found that distance makes the heart grow fonder, and the barbecue taste that much sweeter.

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Eyder Peralta
Eyder Peralta is NPR's East Africa correspondent based in Nairobi, Kenya.