2 min read- McDonald’s is launching a new nationwide beverage push in May with refreshers and crafted sodas.
- The Wall Street Journal reports the lineup will include a Dirty Dr Pepper and Mango Pineapple Refresher.
- Energy drinks are expected later this year as McDonald’s pushes harder into the trendy drinks space.
Dirty sodas are obviously a whole thing now. Good for them, genuinely. Me? Personally, just give me a Baja Blast and let me go about my business. Still, McDonald’s clearly sees where the trend is headed, and it wants a piece of it.
According to reporting from The Wall Street Journal, the chain is getting ready to introduce drinks like a Dirty Dr Pepper and a Mango Pineapple Refresher as part of a broader overhaul of its beverage lineup.
McDonald’s also confirmed to CBS News that a whole “new era of beverages” is arriving in May, with various refreshers and crafted sodas heading to menus nationwide. The company said that more details are on the way and added that energy drinks are expected to follow later this year.
That move makes plenty of sense, even if I personally find dirty soda culture a little intense (read: kinda gross). McDonald’s has been looking for ways to stretch beyond its usual soda-and-coffee lane, especially after shutting down CosMc’s, its beverage-focused spinoff, last year. These new drinks seem like the company’s way of bringing some of that experimentation back to the main menu, only this time on a much bigger stage.
The upcoming lineup is also expected to include a Red Bull Dragonberry Energizer later this year, with the WSJ reporting that McDonald’s plans to go after competitors like Starbucks, Dutch Bros, and Sonic on price. Internal documents also suggest franchisees have been putting money into equipment to make the drinks easier to execute in-store.
McDonald’s is very clearly trying to claim more space in the booming specialty-drinks world (smart, TBH) at a time when younger customers are clearly willing to spend on refreshers, energy drinks, and sodas that feel a little less basic. Whether that means their Dirty Dr Pepper becomes the next huge thing or just a curiosity people order once, post on their Instagram, and chuck in the trash remains to be seen.