Back in 1993, applause erupted in theaters across America as the chief character in the movie Falling Down (played by Michael Douglas) forced a fast food restaurant at gunpoint to make him a breakfast sandwich despite being two-minutes into the lunch menu portion of the day.
For as long as restaurants have set limits on what time breakfast items can be served, there have been consumers wishing it were otherwise. That is why so many ears perked up last year when McDonald's CEO Jim Skinner said the company was looking at a system that would enable its restaurants to offer breakfast all day long.
Now it appears as though all day breakfast may be only a pipe dream.
Jan Fields, chief operating officer of McDonald's USA, said earlier in the week that the company's restaurants would be sticking to the current breakfast hours "not only in the near future but in the long-term future."
She added, "Breakfast all day is certainly something we would always take under consideration, but it's not going to happen for a long time."
Janna Sampson, a chief investment officer with OakBrook Investments LLC, told Crain's Chicago Business, "I suspect they have done tests and found they wouldn't sell enough (breakfast items) to make it worth the cost."
Breakfast accounts for roughly one-fourth of sales in McDonald's restaurants across the U.S.
Discussion Question: Would you see any of the top fast food restaurant chains gaining a competitive point of difference and advantage by expanding breakfast hours? Which national chain would benefit most from expanding the hours in which it serves breakfast items?