McDonald's Launches $12 Burger in Switzerland

McDonalds is rolling out a $12 burger, aptly named "the Prime," as a part of their new Swiss Signature Line in, you guessed it, Switzerland.

The Prime is a creation of Swiss chef Rene Schudel, who runs a high-end restaurant outside the popular tourist town Interlaken. It’s a 6.3-ounce Swiss beef burger topped with "rustic mountain cheese," bacon, coleslaw, arugula and a special sauce.

Unfortunately the only way any non-Swiss will get to sink their choppers into the Prime is if they pack up and visit the central European country. Becca Hary, a spokeswoman for McDonalds laid it out plainly, saying "there are no plans to bring this to the U.S."

Perhaps McDonald's will bring it to neighboring European countries, but for now it will remain a Swiss novelty.

The Prime is the flagship of the Swiss Signature Line, which according to Scott Hume, editor of Burgerbusiness.com, includes “oddly shaped fries (flat and round like chubby potato chips), and four salads: the Ebly Salad (with wheatberries, melon, tomatoes and “a fine dressing”), potato salad (with dried tomatoes), coleslaw (with carrots and cabbage) and Caesar Salad (plain or with grilled or crispy chicken).”

According to Hume, other quick-service restaurants (QSRs) are imitating the concept of high-priced, high-quality menu items. Red Robin recently launched a similar line of burgers, other chains are entertaining the idea of the "build-your-own-burger," and McDonald's launched a line of high-priced chicken schnitzel sandwiches in Australia.

Customers say the Prime is good but overpriced. What else might we expect from a $12 burger from McDonald's? Maybe the rest of the world is better off with the (comparatively) humble and predictable Big Mac.