March 27, 2013 — Fast-food chains are working harder this year to capitalize on the Catholic tradition of eating fish during Lent, as seasonal promotions become more crucial in the competitive landscape.
More restaurants are advertising fish sandwiches, and the traditional leaders, like McDonald's Corp. (MCD), are getting more innovative with their offerings.
McDonald's typically times the promotion of its classic fish filet sandwich with the six weeks of Lent, to take advantage of Catholics who don't eat red meat or poultry on Fridays–or some during the entirety of the season.
But this year, McDonald's came out with new Fish McBites, a seemingly odd twist on its chicken poppers. The company credited the menu addition for helping McDonald's achieve better-than-expected results in the U.S. in February.
"My instinct is that more people are spending more media dollars and competitive activity promoting fish products this year," said Russ Klein, chief marketing officer of Arby's Restaurant Group. "The industry has been somewhat sluggish in the past several months, and in that sense, it does, in fact, become a [market] share game."
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