McDonald's in mainland China has brought back strawberry and vanilla milkshakes for 15 yuan (HK$16.3), leading to long queues at stores and even spawning a 100 yuan proxy purchasing service.
The milkshake products will be sold at McDonaldland flagship stores in 13 cities including Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen until August 31.
Introduced to mainland China in 1990 and becoming a popular and signature McDonald’s item, the milkshake was suddenly pulled from menus in 2014, making it a mere memory of a generation's childhoods.
After its relaunch, numerous complaints were made about a lack of offerings. A number of customers who had queued from 6am could not even get a cup of milkshake, and some reservation orders were canceled without reason.
Due to increasing demand and a shortage of raw material, enterprising citizens began offering a queue-stander service for 15 yuan, with a full purchase service priced up to 80 yuan on secondhand platforms.
Prices surged even higher on weekends. Some posts on secondhand platforms charged 100 yuan was for queuing only, excluding the cost of the items and delivery.
In contrast, McDonald’s in Hong Kong has always offered milkshakes, priced at HK$18. Milkshakes remain a standard menu item at McDonald’s in most markets around the world.
HELEN ZHONG
