OAK BROOK, Ill. - McDonald€™s doesn€™t want you to taste its newest drink until the official launch in a fortnight. The fast-food chain has been asking some South locations to cut back on free smoothie samples and to curtail posters and other in-store marketing signage ahead of the national campaign, while Midwest stores were told to stop offering $1 smoothies, the Wall Street Journal.

McDonald€™s is concerned that supplies might be too low if demand builds too quickly. With supplies "flying out too fast, €¦ the supply chain was predicting a catastrophe if they didn€™t reel It in some," said a McDonald€™s franchisee.

Late last week, company spokeswoman Danya Proud said McDonald€™s expects to have more than enough smoothie mix on hand for the launch but the chain wanted some local promos to halt in order to keep those supplies high prior to the national advertising campaign. Proud said the company has planned "some very aggressive marketing tactics in place" for the national debut.

McDonald€™s wants to avoid the fate of rival Burger King, which had to end its limited-time rib promo because of an unforeseen run on the product depleted supplies too fast.

For McDonald€™s, franchisees began selling smoothies prior to the official debut, partly because of the higher profit margins on the drinks. The company also will reward the top 25 percent of locations based on smoothie sales.

The fast-food restaurant also revealed that it will go over its early target of improving yearly sales at the average U.S. location by $125,000, attributed to its expanded beverage lineup. Recently, McDonald€™s has seen coffee sales drop while its cold frappe sales have soared.