Have you ever sat in a McDonald's Corporation (NYSE:MCD) outlet around lunchtime on a weekend and just watched? Chances are you'll see a family or two, and chances are, the young children will be in possession of a hamburger Happy Meal. And if the family you're watching is anything like mine, or my colleague's, you'll see a pregnant mom (that's me) or dad, with an empty Quarter Pounder wrapper, hungrily eyeing the last bites of the child's burger.

Maybe it was a sight like that that prompted franchisee Scott Frisbee, whose family owns 17 McDonald's restaurants in and around Anaheim, California, to develop the idea that McDonald's needed a premium burger. Maybe it was those ubiquitous commercials for the "six dollar burger" at rival Carl's Jr., a unit of CKE Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:CKR), and the fact that his menu had no competitive item. Maybe he was just hungry. Either way, the progress of McDonald's Third Pounder from concept to its appearance on California menus is remarkable for its speed -- not to mention its success.

At $3.99, the burger is the most expensive sandwich the company has ever offered -- seemingly counter to McDonald's place in the country's subconscious as the cheapest place to get a family meal. At 720 to 840 calories depending on options, the sandwich seems contrary to America's hopeless striving to become healthier. And after a string of less-than-stellar new menu items in the 80s and 90s, the fast food chain had slowed to focus on its menu standards -- so however did this come to fruition so quickly and to such obvious acclaim?