How McDonald’s Stole Billions from Denny’s - And How You Can Do the Same to Your Competition
Sep 11, 2025 2:49 pm
Let me tell you a story that’ll make you look at your breakfast — and your business — differently.
Back in the early 2000s, McDonald’s had a problem. Their breakfast menu was fine, but not earth-shaking. They were watching competitors like Denny’s own the “big breakfast” category. After all, who didn’t know about the Denny’s Grand Slam — pancakes, sausage, bacon, eggs — the gold standard of morning gluttony.
But there was one problem with Denny’s dominance: the Grand Slam was locked in a diner. You needed a plate. A fork. A table.
That’s when Tom Ryan, McDonald’s food scientist, had a spark:
“What if we took a Grand Slam… and made it something you could hold in your hand?”
Boom. The McGriddle was born in 2003. Pancakes became the bun, syrup was baked in as crystals, sausage and eggs were stacked in the middle, and suddenly you could eat America’s favorite diner breakfast in your car, at your desk, anywhere.
McDonald’s didn’t “invent” a new breakfast. They repackaged an old one into a billion-dollar category. They stole the thunder from Denny’s by doing what great marketers do:
- Find the weakness in your competitor’s strength.
- Reframe it into your own advantage.
- Own the conversation.
Denny’s had the reputation. McDonald’s had the distribution. And with one clever innovation, McDonald’s walked away with billions while Denny’s stayed stuck in booths and bad coffee refills.
So What’s the Lesson for You?
If you think innovation means building something no one’s ever seen before — you’re dead wrong.
The real money isn’t in invention. It’s in transformation.
Ask yourself:
- What do my competitors do that’s great… but locked in a format that frustrates customers?
- How could I take their “Grand Slam” and make it something people can carry, click, stream, subscribe to, or access faster?
- Where are they chained to tradition… while I could break free with convenience, packaging, pricing, or delivery?
McDonald’s didn’t “out-breakfast” Denny’s. They out-marketed them.
And you can do the same. Maybe your competitor has the “fancy showroom,” but you create the virtual walk-through app. Maybe they’ve got the “best seminar,” but you turn it into a 10-minute podcast series. Maybe they’re stuck in “monthly billing,” and you reframe the same service as “lifetime access.”
The point is: you don’t need to reinvent the egg. You just need to fry it in a way your customers can eat on the run.
Stop worshiping at the altar of originality. The money isn’t there.
The money is in looking at what your competition does best… and asking:
“How do I steal their billion-dollar breakfast… and serve it in my own wrapper?”
That’s how McDonald’s turned a Denny’s Grand Slam into a McGriddle empire.
And it’s how you can turn your competitor’s strength into your biggest payday.
A Real-World Example
Recently, I sat down with a local restaurant owner. They looked me dead in the eye and asked, “Do you have any restaurant clients?”
My answer? No.
Why? Because every business thinks they’re exclusive. Restaurants believe they’re different than car dealerships. Car dealerships think they’re different than dentists. Dentists think they’re different than gyms.
But here’s the truth: they’re not.
Every business lives and dies by only two things:
- Cost – How much does it cost to acquire a lead?
- Revenue – How much money does that lead bring in when converted to a sale?
Period. End of story.
After several attempts to reconnect with that restaurant, I realized they actually believed the same person who buys a vehicle in a 5–7 mile radius of their location somehow becomes a totally different person when it comes to dining out. That’s fantasy.
McDonald’s didn’t fall for that lie. They didn’t say, “Well, Denny’s has sit-down diners, so that’s a different market.” No — they saw the overlap. Hungry people are everywhere. They found a way to serve the same appetite in a more convenient format.
And they ate Denny’s lunch — literally.
The 4th quarter is coming up quick—the biggest buying season of the year. The question is: will your business stand out, or get lost in the noise?
This is one social media campaign I created for the oldest Honda dealership in North Carolina. They typically sold around 100 vehicles a month, but during this sale, 29 vehicles were sold in a single day—promoted exclusively on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/BryanHondaNC/videos/1466525046736632
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Here’s why this matters:
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Talk soon,
Rico Glover
Founder – Marketing Disruptors
Co-Founder:
https://ContentengineOptimization.com/accounts/login/