McDonald's year over year sales were terrible. How would you fix (1 Viewer)

[Kraft...]

It is a brand on the decline and tons of new additional competition. McD's is in trouble, I don't think it has the same "I want MCDONALDS" impact on young kids like it did when most of us were growing up.

Agree, over holiday break I took my kids bowling. The winner got to choose where everyone was going to eat afterwards. Two picked local restaurants, one picked 5 Guys(the winner) and one(my youngest) picked McD's and only because she wants the crappy little toy. Years ago McD's would have been a unanimous choice IMO.

 

[dparker713]

Terrible? They actually increased sales company wide. They're just not showing the ridiculous growth of the past decade.

 

[nirad3]

Partially due to this thread (thanks a lot, FBG!) I decided to trek over to the local Golden Arches. Honestly, the fries weren't as good as they've been in the past, and for some reason I think their burgers in the Midwest taste exponentially better. I think they do get local beef so that'd make sense. No need to go back unless my 4 year old has a hankering. She calls it "Old McDonald's".

 

[MikeIke]

You can take my McDonald's double cheeseburger from my cold, dead hands.

 

[flapgreen]

Can't eat it without hitting the toilet 30 minutes later. All the better burger joints are killing McDonald's. Even Burger King seems like a gourmet burger in comparison.

They are pathetic. Talk about the lowest quality.I used to love BK Lounge when I was young and before they microwaved everything. It was a real flame broiled burger in the 70's and the Whopper tastes nothing like it did back then.

Couple that we possibly the very worst service and staff in fast food and you have a company that is pure garbage.

More like QP with cheese tastes like gourmet compared to the absolute crap fest that is BK. I have not eaten in a BK in probably 5-6 years now. And never will again.

BK

Taco Bell (been 10 years now since I ate there)

Are on my never ever again list.

BK is by far the worst. I can't believe anyone goes there. It's heinous.

 

[flapgreen]

Partially due to this thread (thanks a lot, FBG!) I decided to trek over to the local Golden Arches. Honestly, the fries weren't as good as they've been in the past, and for some reason I think their burgers in the Midwest taste exponentially better. I think they do get local beef so that'd make sense. No need to go back unless my 4 year old has a hankering. She calls it "Old McDonald's".

Mine too. Lol

 

[flapgreen]

There is one thing they should do, but it would be politically incorrect.

Make it a corporate policy to hire hotties for their drive-thru window. When I worked there as a youngster, I had a boss who always hired pretty girls for breakfast, and he always put them in the back drive-thru. He told me that when he hires a really pretty girl and puts her there, within a few weeks the drive-thru morning rush is packed with men coming by to say hi and order a coke or something.

Awesome!

 

[SIDA!]

I am not going to add anything new to this discussion as most everything has been said.

1. The food simply doesn't taste very good

2. It is overpriced for the crap they serve you and you can easily pay a little bit more and get much better food some place else.

3. I haven't gone to McDonalds for anything other than a $1 soda for at least a year.

4. The only thing that is great is the McGriddle...but I seldom eat breakfast outside the home.

5. The biggest thing is my pre-teen son refuses to eat McDonald's. It has been brainwashed into him sine he watched Supersize Me with his mother. I honestly don't think I could bribe him to go...unless it was a decent sized Lego toy set or video game. Even he has a price...little *******.

6. See number 1. The food is ####.

I drive down the street and its crickets at the McDonalds. Meanwhile a quarter mile down the road and I can never eat at In N Out because their store has 20+ cars (no ####) waiting in the drive thru line...ALL ####### DAY! Nearly every In N Out takes over the parking lot of the strip mall/shopping center they are in. And one of the reasons why is because the burgers taste amazing and they cost less. The employees are competent, helpful and pleasant. And the stores are clean, well lit and maintained.

 

[SIDA!]

Leigh and colleague DaeHwan Kim analyzed 1994-96 data from the Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals and the accompanying Diet and Health Knowledge Survey. The data included responses from 5,000 Americans who were asked about restaurant dining habits, income, race, gender, age and education.

The researchers found that people visited fast-food restaurants more often as their household income increased — at least up to a point. Fast-food visits rose along with annual income up to $60,000; beyond that, visits started to drop back down, replaced by full-service, sit-down dining at slightly higher prices.

Based on the data, the researchers described the typical fast-food consumer as a lower-middle income head of household, who is budget-conscious and harried and likes the convenience and low price of fast food, compared with other restaurants. Poor people, by contrast, can’t easily afford fast-food “value meals,” and the poorest, who may rely on the FNS Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, certainly can’t use food stamps at McDonald’s.

I can't speak for McDonald's but I do know that many fast food places in Southern California accept EBT cards.

 

[SIDA!]

Perhaps a Ronald MCDonald sex tape with the Wendy's girl would really shake up the fast food industry...just thinking outside the box.

That's inside the box, no?

ROTFLMAO

 

[Statcruncher]

but seriously....they have jacked the price up on what used to be dollar menu staples.....double cheese...used to be on dollar menu...now over $1.50 IIRC......they replaced that for awhile with the McDouble for $1 (cool, one less piece of cheese I didn't really need anyway, pretty solid deal for a buck)....now you can't get the McDouble for $1....?

....

the "value" meal combos are a joke.....there is no value....can't remember the last time I ordered one.....I love a Quarter Pounder, but not that much.....I settle for my McDouble

These are exactly spot on.

 

[Plorfu]

Leigh and colleague DaeHwan Kim analyzed 1994-96 data from the Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals and the accompanying Diet and Health Knowledge Survey. The data included responses from 5,000 Americans who were asked about restaurant dining habits, income, race, gender, age and education.

The researchers found that people visited fast-food restaurants more often as their household income increased at least up to a point. Fast-food visits rose along with annual income up to $60,000; beyond that, visits started to drop back down, replaced by full-service, sit-down dining at slightly higher prices.

Based on the data, the researchers described the typical fast-food consumer as a lower-middle income head of household, who is budget-conscious and harried and likes the convenience and low price of fast food, compared with other restaurants. Poor people, by contrast, cant easily afford fast-food value meals, and the poorest, who may rely on the FNS Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, certainly cant use food stamps at McDonalds.

I can't speak for McDonald's but I do know that many fast food places in Southern California accept EBT cards.

I think there's requirements for this, though, like you have to be disabled, elderly, homeless, etc.

 

[SIDA!]

Leigh and colleague DaeHwan Kim analyzed 1994-96 data from the Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals and the accompanying Diet and Health Knowledge Survey. The data included responses from 5,000 Americans who were asked about restaurant dining habits, income, race, gender, age and education.

The researchers found that people visited fast-food restaurants more often as their household income increased at least up to a point. Fast-food visits rose along with annual income up to $60,000; beyond that, visits started to drop back down, replaced by full-service, sit-down dining at slightly higher prices.

Based on the data, the researchers described the typical fast-food consumer as a lower-middle income head of household, who is budget-conscious and harried and likes the convenience and low price of fast food, compared with other restaurants. Poor people, by contrast, cant easily afford fast-food value meals, and the poorest, who may rely on the FNS Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, certainly cant use food stamps at McDonalds.

I can't speak for McDonald's but I do know that many fast food places in Southern California accept EBT cards.

I think there's requirements for this, though, like you have to be disabled, elderly, homeless, etc.

I have never read the fine print...but even if that is there...it is meaningless. How does one prove they are homeless?

 

[thecatch]

Terrible? They actually increased sales company wide. They're just not showing the ridiculous growth of the past decade.

The stock pays a nice dividend and has had great returns over the last 5/10 years. I have faith in management.

 

[TheIronSheik]

I think they hired a new ad company. The last two ads were actually pretty good. The cartoon ad where enemies are coming together over their food. And the one with the messages on their signs. This is a good step.

 

[Parrothead]

seems like they are targeting hipsters with their new ads.

 

[joffer]

I think they hired a new ad company. The last two ads were actually pretty good. The cartoon ad where enemies are coming together over their food. And the one with the messages on their signs. This is a good step.

they're catching flap over the second. amazing what people will complain about.

 

[TheIronSheik]

seems like they are targeting hipsters with their new ads.

I thought they were going more after the internet crowd, more so than hipsters.

 

[TheIronSheik]

I think they hired a new ad company. The last two ads were actually pretty good. The cartoon ad where enemies are coming together over their food. And the one with the messages on their signs. This is a good step.

they're catching flap over the second. amazing what people will complain about.

I saw that. When I saw that commercial, it actually made me semi-emotional. Like, I felt something. People forget that McD's is part of America. They are everywhere. I thought it was a great commercial.

 

[Clifford]

I think the "parents not taking their kids to McD's" angle is big. For whatever reason, when i take my kids to McDonald's, I feel like a failure as a father. Like if my friends see me doing it they'll think "man what a loser, takes his kids to Mcdonald's". It's all in the image, I know...but that's the image they have now. Crap food that is horrible for you.

Even though I'd argue it's ten times worse to take your family to Chili's/Friday's/Outback or any of the sitdown chain restaurants that are absolutely LOADED in calories.

I think its this and there is nothing they can do about it. Once societal ostracizing sets in there's nothing you can do. Same with smoking: it took a really long time but now, unless you really don't give a crap what anyone thinks which is rare, most people are a bit ashamed to light up. I would be ashamed to feed my kids McDonalds or any fast food on a regular basis. Simply because i know, no matter what, that the food is not harvested in a healthy, sustainable way, that it's not humane, and it's not healthy for my kids. It's a double-shame burger with mega-shame fries.

There's nothing they can do to rebrand or make themselves not shameful. If they completely reformed everything: ingredients, processes, quality, and overall health quality, they would be bankrupt before the measures turned their first profit margin.

They could massively downsize and appeal to the smaller segment that really doesn't care about what they put into their body or what others think, but that's probably less than 20% of the population, really likely less than 5%.

If they bill themselves as only an occasional non-healthy treat, they can't sustain their current infrastructure.

 

[ChiefD]

I think the "parents not taking their kids to McD's" angle is big. For whatever reason, when i take my kids to McDonald's, I feel like a failure as a father. Like if my friends see me doing it they'll think "man what a loser, takes his kids to Mcdonald's". It's all in the image, I know...but that's the image they have now. Crap food that is horrible for you.

Even though I'd argue it's ten times worse to take your family to Chili's/Friday's/Outback or any of the sitdown chain restaurants that are absolutely LOADED in calories.

I think its this and there is nothing they can do about it. Once societal ostracizing sets in there's nothing you can do. Same with smoking: it took a really long time but now, unless you really don't give a crap what anyone thinks which is rare, most people are a bit ashamed to light up. I would be ashamed to feed my kids McDonalds or any fast food on a regular basis. Simply because i know, no matter what, that the food is not harvested in a healthy, sustainable way, that it's not humane, and it's not healthy for my kids. It's a double-shame burger with mega-shame fries.

There's nothing they can do to rebrand or make themselves not shameful. If they completely reformed everything: ingredients, processes, quality, and overall health quality, they would be bankrupt before the measures turned their first profit margin.

They could massively downsize and appeal to the smaller segment that really doesn't care about what they put into their body or what others think, but that's probably less than 20% of the population, really likely less than 5%.

If they bill themselves as only an occasional non-healthy treat, they can't sustain their current infrastructure.

Agree with this.

 

[comfortably numb]

I think they hired a new ad company. The last two ads were actually pretty good. The cartoon ad where enemies are coming together over their food. And the one with the messages on their signs. This is a good step.

they're catching flap over the second. amazing what people will complain about.

I saw that. When I saw that commercial, it actually made me semi-emotional. Like, I felt something. People forget that McD's is part of America. They are everywhere. I thought it was a great commercial.

link to commercial?

 

[Gr00vus]

I think they hired a new ad company. The last two ads were actually pretty good. The cartoon ad where enemies are coming together over their food. And the one with the messages on their signs. This is a good step.

they're catching flap over the second. amazing what people will complain about.

I saw that. When I saw that commercial, it actually made me semi-emotional. Like, I felt something. People forget that McD's is part of America. They are everywhere. I thought it was a great commercial.

Funny, I think their recent ad campaigns have been horrible, including these two new spots. What's next, they get Sally Struthers and Sarah McGlachlan as spokesmen to really tug at the heart strings?

They need to get back to focusing their marketing on kids. Get em hooked early. I know when my son watches t.v. there don't seem to be any spots for McDonalds on the kids channels - maybe they don't allow them or something? Whereas when I was a kid you couldn't go a commercial break without a McDonald's ad. Their core food products are kid pallet level, why fight it? Have a salad or two on the menu just so the parents who get dragged in there have something besides pure crap to eat, but pare away all the extraneous stuff and focus on the kid type food.

They seem pretty lost.

 

[Tackling Dummies]

I think they hired a new ad company. The last two ads were actually pretty good. The cartoon ad where enemies are coming together over their food. And the one with the messages on their signs. This is a good step.

they're catching flap over the second. amazing what people will complain about.

I saw that. When I saw that commercial, it actually made me semi-emotional. Like, I felt something. People forget that McD's is part of America. They are everywhere. I thought it was a great commercial.

link to commercial?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93KTpF9JDWo

 

[Clifford]

I think they hired a new ad company. The last two ads were actually pretty good. The cartoon ad where enemies are coming together over their food. And the one with the messages on their signs. This is a good step.

they're catching flap over the second. amazing what people will complain about.

I saw that. When I saw that commercial, it actually made me semi-emotional. Like, I felt something. People forget that McD's is part of America. They are everywhere. I thought it was a great commercial.

Funny, I think their recent ad campaigns have been horrible, including these two new spots. What's next, they get Sally Struthers and Sarah McGlachlan as spokesmen to really tug at the heart strings?

They need to get back to focusing their marketing on kids. Get em hooked early. I know when my son watches t.v. there don't seem to be any spots for McDonalds on the kids channels - maybe they don't allow them or something? Whereas when I was a kid you couldn't go a commercial break without a McDonald's ad. Their core food products are kid pallet level, why fight it? Have a salad or two on the menu just so the parents who get dragged in there have something besides pure crap to eat, but pare away all the extraneous stuff and focus on the kid type food.

They seem pretty lost.

Advertising to kids doesn't work if the parents are convinced they are damaging their kids by taking them. And they are convinced largely because they know the food offers little nutritional value, and isn't even tasty other than fries. Probably why they have pulled back and are focusing more on teens: still have the bad judgment of a kid but the autonomy of an adult.

 

[TheIronSheik]

I think they hired a new ad company. The last two ads were actually pretty good. The cartoon ad where enemies are coming together over their food. And the one with the messages on their signs. This is a good step.

they're catching flap over the second. amazing what people will complain about.

I saw that. When I saw that commercial, it actually made me semi-emotional. Like, I felt something. People forget that McD's is part of America. They are everywhere. I thought it was a great commercial.

Funny, I think their recent ad campaigns have been horrible, including these two new spots. What's next, they get Sally Struthers and Sarah McGlachlan as spokesmen to really tug at the heart strings?

They need to get back to focusing their marketing on kids. Get em hooked early. I know when my son watches t.v. there don't seem to be any spots for McDonalds on the kids channels - maybe they don't allow them or something? Whereas when I was a kid you couldn't go a commercial break without a McDonald's ad. Their core food products are kid pallet level, why fight it? Have a salad or two on the menu just so the parents who get dragged in there have something besides pure crap to eat, but pare away all the extraneous stuff and focus on the kid type food.

They seem pretty lost.

I'm guessing they're not allowed to anymore. I thought there were pretty strict guidelines now as to what you could put out for kids. I could be way off on this, though.

 

[Gr00vus]

I think they hired a new ad company. The last two ads were actually pretty good. The cartoon ad where enemies are coming together over their food. And the one with the messages on their signs. This is a good step.

they're catching flap over the second. amazing what people will complain about.

I saw that. When I saw that commercial, it actually made me semi-emotional. Like, I felt something. People forget that McD's is part of America. They are everywhere. I thought it was a great commercial.

Funny, I think their recent ad campaigns have been horrible, including these two new spots. What's next, they get Sally Struthers and Sarah McGlachlan as spokesmen to really tug at the heart strings?

They need to get back to focusing their marketing on kids. Get em hooked early. I know when my son watches t.v. there don't seem to be any spots for McDonalds on the kids channels - maybe they don't allow them or something? Whereas when I was a kid you couldn't go a commercial break without a McDonald's ad. Their core food products are kid pallet level, why fight it? Have a salad or two on the menu just so the parents who get dragged in there have something besides pure crap to eat, but pare away all the extraneous stuff and focus on the kid type food.

They seem pretty lost.

Advertising to kids doesn't work if the parents are convinced they are damaging their kids by taking them. And they are convinced largely because they know the food offers little nutritional value, and isn't even tasty other than fries. Probably why they have pulled back and are focusing more on teens: still have the bad judgment of a kid but the autonomy of an adult.

You drill that into a 5 year old's head and good luck to parents trying not cave to the pressure that will ensue at least once a week.

 

[comfortably numb]

I think they hired a new ad company. The last two ads were actually pretty good. The cartoon ad where enemies are coming together over their food. And the one with the messages on their signs. This is a good step.

they're catching flap over the second. amazing what people will complain about.

I saw that. When I saw that commercial, it actually made me semi-emotional. Like, I felt something. People forget that McD's is part of America. They are everywhere. I thought it was a great commercial.

link to commercial?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93KTpF9JDWo

Thanks,

I liked it

 

[Clifford]

Well, all I can say is what is drilled into my 6-year-old's head and the majority of it comes from his mom and me. I'm not a food warrior but my wife is and he has grown up knowing it as the "yucky food place" to where he associates McDonald's almost with some sort of villainous network. When he sees their commercials he pipes up and says "no way I am eating that food."

I had to convince him it was ok to get a cookie from there. He is now convinced and says that he will eat their cookies and maybe occasionally their fries but nothing else.

So their advertising can't counteract the cultural movement against unhealthy food with inhumane and unhealthy production practices, which he mainly picked up from his mom.

Truth of which is more right doesn't really enter into it. It's just what he hears and believes. And he associates McDonalds with yucky food that is bad for you.

 

[Gr00vus]

Well, all I can say is what is drilled into my 6-year-old's head and the majority of it comes from his mom and me. I'm not a food warrior but my wife is and he has grown up knowing it as the "yucky food place" to where he associates McDonald's almost with some sort of villainous network. When he sees their commercials he pipes up and says "no way I am eating that food."

I had to convince him it was ok to get a cookie from there. He is now convinced and says that he will eat their cookies and maybe occasionally their fries but nothing else.

So their advertising can't counteract the cultural movement against unhealthy food with inhumane and unhealthy production practices, which he mainly picked up from his mom.

Truth of which is more right doesn't really enter into it. It's just what he hears and believes. And he associates McDonalds with yucky food that is bad for you.

People still drink Coke even though we all know it's awful for us.

Maybe a few more families like yours would slip through the cracks than 20 or 30 years ago, but if they had the relentless ads campaign directed at kids they used to, I think it would be pretty effective. And it would re-establish a pattern of ingrained habits that would carry through adulthood.

 

[Steve Tasker]

I love that enemies commercial. Adorable, cute, catchy song. I said over the weekend that it's my favorite commercial on TV right now.

I have no idea what it has to do with McDonald's though. Their food is still ####### gross.

 

[Gr00vus]

I love that enemies commercial. Adorable, cute, catchy song. I said over the weekend that it's my favorite commercial on TV right now.

I have no idea what it has to do with McDonald's though. Their food is still ####### gross.

Exactly.

 

[TheIronSheik]

I love that enemies commercial. Adorable, cute, catchy song. I said over the weekend that it's my favorite commercial on TV right now.

I have no idea what it has to do with McDonald's though. Their food is still ####### gross.

That's the thing, though. It shouldn't have to pertain to their food. It just has to be catchy. Budweiser commercials have had frogs, horses, black dudes screaming "What's up!".... No one cares if they don't talk about the product.

 

[Annyong]

I love that enemies commercial. Adorable, cute, catchy song. I said over the weekend that it's my favorite commercial on TV right now.

I have no idea what it has to do with McDonald's though. Their food is still ####### gross.

Exactly.

uhh it brings people together?

 

[FreeBaGeL]

I drive down the street and its crickets at the McDonalds. Meanwhile a quarter mile down the road and I can never eat at In N Out because their store has 20+ cars (no ####) waiting in the drive thru line...ALL ####### DAY! Nearly every In N Out takes over the parking lot of the strip mall/shopping center they are in. And one of the reasons why is because the burgers taste amazing and they cost less. The employees are competent, helpful and pleasant. And the stores are clean, well lit and maintained.

Yeah, I'm no In N Out junkie like everyone else out here, but I will readily admit that the rare times I go there I'm always shocked when I pull up to the pay window and that order for 4 of us costs like 12 bucks. And everyone working at that place is always much nicer/happier than anyone I've ever encountered at a McDonalds. Probably because they actually pay them a decent wage.

 

[Annyong]

I want to try In N Out. Can one of you guys send me some?

 

[urbanhack]

I love that enemies commercial. Adorable, cute, catchy song. I said over the weekend that it's my favorite commercial on TV right now.

I have no idea what it has to do with McDonald's though. Their food is still ####### gross.

Exactly.

uhh it brings people together?

it does?

 

[Annyong]

I love that enemies commercial. Adorable, cute, catchy song. I said over the weekend that it's my favorite commercial on TV right now.

I have no idea what it has to do with McDonald's though. Their food is still ####### gross.

Exactly.

uhh it brings people together?

it does?

??? according to McDonalds it does.

 

[the moops]

I think it's because people go there too often now.

I know as a kid, it was a treat to go to McD's and get a Happy Meal. Now, that's all people eat. And now with other options and people wanting to eat healthy, it's not really a "treat" anymore.

So when people used to go sparingly, they made tons of money, but now that they go all the time and it is all they eat, they are making less money. Got it

 

[MattFancy]

I think it's because people go there too often now.

I know as a kid, it was a treat to go to McD's and get a Happy Meal. Now, that's all people eat. And now with other options and people wanting to eat healthy, it's not really a "treat" anymore.

So when people used to go sparingly, they made tons of money, but now that they go all the time and it is all they eat, they are making less money.Got it

Fair point. But I bet there's also more stores now than there were in the early 90s.

 

[Annyong]

Wendy's is probably the best of the national chains, but even that's getting overpriced.

 

[urbanhack]

I love that enemies commercial. Adorable, cute, catchy song. I said over the weekend that it's my favorite commercial on TV right now.

I have no idea what it has to do with McDonald's though. Their food is still ####### gross.

Exactly.

uhh it brings people together?

it does?

??? according to McDonalds it does.

If there's one area in life where I'm glad I'm a cynical #######...it's advertising. Nothing worse than gullible sheep who buy this #### up.

 

[Capella]

It's crazy to me that people are lapping up that sign ad. Nuts.

 

[James Daulton]

Apparently all you need are some hot chicks in hot outfits. Not that surprising actually.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/13/breastaurants-growth_n_6443274.html

 

[Clifford]

I love that enemies commercial. Adorable, cute, catchy song. I said over the weekend that it's my favorite commercial on TV right now.

I have no idea what it has to do with McDonald's though. Their food is still ####### gross.

That's the thing, though. It shouldn't have to pertain to their food. It just has to be catchy. Budweiser commercials have had frogs, horses, black dudes screaming "What's up!".... No one cares if they don't talk about the product.

Good advertising never talks about the product. It talks about what type of person the product makes you.

 

[Guest]

Part of the problem is that the core demographic and therefore core brand message have changed. The truth is that they are now cheap garbage for people too poor and ignorant to make healthy eating choices. That's a hard reality to square with its historic image of wholesome Americana.

Far from the land of the Hamburglar and Grimace that I remember, I now perceive McDonald's as a dirty, gritty morass of ill health and poor wages.

I suppose that McDonald's could invest in more aggressive marketing and try to change the perception, but they will be ill served pretending that they are about healthier choices.

For better or worse, their ideal customer is someone with little regard for tomorrow and little money to afford healthier choice. When that's your base - good luck.

Above, which I wrote last month, is why their current campaign doesn't resonate and why it's distasteful to exploit veterans and 911 - when they are really about the above.

 

[Cyclones]

All things being equal, I think the level of competition is being way undersold here.

When I was a kid/teenager, we had 6 choices of fast food chains in the city I grew up in (Northern Ontario, but it was good sized city - Sudbury.)

McDonald's

Burger King

Wendy's

KFC

Harvey's (A Canadian chain.)

A&W

On top of this was Tim Horton's and a couple of local chicken/burger joints. The choices for breakfast were even fewer as, by my recollection, only a few of those actually served it.

If I open Urban Spoon from where I sit at my desk right now, its ridiculous. There are 30-40 different fast food joints I could hit (most with Drive Thrus,) plus three First Watches and three Wild Eggs (as somehow the breakfast/brunch/lunch spot has become red hot, at least around here.)

Add to that food trucks, all the quick lunches you can get at say Applebee's, Friday's, etc, and the market share has simply dropped. You can also get wide varieties of ethnic "fast" food now too - several Mexican, Italian, Asian, Greek, etc food spots. It's the same reason there will never be another MASH or Seinfeld or Bonanza or Gunsmoke. There are simply a ton more choices now.

ETA - if you are one of those people who refuses to eat at McDonald's because it's unhealthy or bad quality or just because it's McDonald's, but you frequent places like Culver's, Steak and Shake, Hardee's, etc....you're missing the point. It's all bad. Really bad.

 

[Dickies]

I drive down the street and its crickets at the McDonalds. Meanwhile a quarter mile down the road and I can never eat at In N Out because their store has 20+ cars (no ####) waiting in the drive thru line...ALL ####### DAY! Nearly every In N Out takes over the parking lot of the strip mall/shopping center they are in. And one of the reasons why is because the burgers taste amazing and they cost less. The employees are competent, helpful and pleasant. And the stores are clean, well lit and maintained.

Yeah, I'm no In N Out junkie like everyone else out here, but I will readily admit that the rare times I go there I'm always shocked when I pull up to the pay window and that order for 4 of us costs like 12 bucks. And everyone working at that place is always much nicer/happier than anyone I've ever encountered at a McDonalds. Probably because they actually pay them a decent wage.

Yep, In N Out is not the best burger ever, but it is the best fast food burger. On top of that, it is cheap for the quality of food you get and the workers are always friendly. Makes for an overall better experience. I drive through and feed my family of 4 for right around 12 bucks.

Since my wife refuses to eat ground beef at McDs, if we go there she gets sucked into ordering those awful "deluxe" chicken sandwiches for about $8 a pop and they always screw up her order and slop mayo on it. By the time we leave we are out $25 and yelling at each other over who is to blame for mayo touching her sandwich.

 

[Jobber]

All things being equal, I think the level of competition is being way undersold here.

When I was a kid/teenager, we had 6 choices of fast food chains in the city I grew up in (Northern Ontario, but it was good sized city - Sudbury.)

McDonald's

Burger King

Wendy's

KFC

Harvey's (A Canadian chain.)

A&W

On top of this was Tim Horton's and a couple of local chicken/burger joints. The choices for breakfast were even fewer as, by my recollection, only a few of those actually served it.

If I open Urban Spoon from where I sit at my desk right now, its ridiculous. There are 30-40 different fast food joints I could hit (most with Drive Thrus,) plus three First Watches and three Wild Eggs (as somehow the breakfast/brunch/lunch spot has become red hot, at least around here.)

Add to that food trucks, all the quick lunches you can get at say Applebee's, Friday's, etc, and the market share has simply dropped. You can also get wide varieties of ethnic "fast" food now too - several Mexican, Italian, Asian, Greek, etc food spots. It's the same reason there will never be another MASH or Seinfeld or Bonanza or Gunsmoke. There are simply a ton more choices now.

ETA - if you are one of those people who refuses to eat at McDonald's because it's unhealthy or bad quality or just because it's McDonald's, but you frequent places like Culver's, Steak and Shake, Hardee's, etc....you're missing the point. It's all bad. Really bad.

Great post right there. Back in the 80's/90's everyone saw McDonalds et al printing money. Then they got into the mix. You've got the same numbers of fast food eaters, if not more, just spread way thinner.

 

[Eephus]

I think they hired a new ad company. The last two ads were actually pretty good. The cartoon ad where enemies are coming together over their food. And the one with the messages on their signs. This is a good step.

they're catching flap over the second. amazing what people will complain about.

I saw that. When I saw that commercial, it actually made me semi-emotional. Like, I felt something. People forget that McD's is part of America. They are everywhere. I thought it was a great commercial.

I guess time will tell if this is a winning ad campaign. A lot of companies try to wrap themselves in the flag but not all are successful at it. I think it works better for cars and beer because consumers have a distinct choice between buying American (YAY) or imported (BOO). They'll have a harder convincing customers it's their duty (DUTY) to go buy a Big Mac.

There's a little bit of irony in McDonald's (like Applebee's before them) painting themselves as pillars of the community when the ascent of big corporate fast food businesses displaced thousands of locally owned restaurants over the years. Oh well, the winners get to write the history.