McDonald’s takes on Wendy’s with Egg McMuffin Day

McDonald’s has created a new food holiday for its Egg McMuffin and will celebrate by giving away free breakfast sandwiches.

Almost 50 years after the sandwich debuted in 1971, McDonald’s is marking its first-ever National Egg McMuffin Day on Monday, March 2. The day coincidentally – or perhaps purposefully – is when Wendy’s breakfast menu launches nationwide.

To get the free Egg McMuffin between 6 and 10:30 a.m. local time Monday, you’ll need to download the McDonald’s mobile app and register an account. No purchase is necessary to get the freebie at participating locations.

“While we’re giving the Egg McMuffin its moment, we’re really honoring our breakfast fans who have woken up with McDonald’s breakfast for nearly 50 years,” David Tovar, McDonald’s vice president of U.S. communications, said in a statement. “And we just thought, ‘hey, why not declare March 2 as National Egg McMuffin Day?’”

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Fast-food rivals have been launching food wars frequently and Wendy’s did poke McDonald’s in early February when announcing the March 2 nationwide launch.

Many Wendy’s restaurants started serving breakfast ahead of Monday as a soft launch. The menu includes the Breakfast Baconator, Frosty-ccino and Honey Butter Chicken Biscuit.

Moe’s Southwest Grill kicked off the “queso war” Thursday against Chipotle by offering a free side of queso to coincide with Chipotle’s new Blanco Queso. Moe’s free queso offer was extended through Friday.

Arby’s fired the first salvo in a high-stakes battle over who has the best fish sandwich by trying to bait McDonald’s in a Fish Sandwich War ahead of Lent.