McDonald’s is taking a page out of Dunkin’s playbook to drum up excitement about breakfast.
In February the chain plans to launch “Donut Sticks” as a limited-time offering, according to internal documents viewed by Business Insider. The strips of deep-fried dough, sprinkled with cinnamon sugar, will be available only during breakfast hours.
“They’re light and crunchy on the outside and soft and warm on the inside,” according to the internal description of the product.
Customers will be able to buy six Donut Sticks at the recommended price of $1.29, or a dozen for $2.39. McDonald’s is also pushing a bundled deal of a half-dozen Donut Sticks and a small coffee for $1.99.
McDonald’s declined to confirm any plans to roll out Donut Sticks but said in a statement that customers could expect “more delicious and craveable news to come in 2019.”
The Donut Sticks appear to be markedly similar to Dunkin’s Donut Fries, which the chain rolled out nationally as a limited-time offering in June. According to Dunkin’ Brands CEO David Hoffman,Donut Fries “quickly became one of the best-performing limited-time offer bakery items in recent brand history.”
While McDonald’s has long been the king of fast-food breakfast, the chain has recently lost market share to competitors as rivals double down on morning sales.