McDonalds wants to be a "progressive burger restaurant."
That's the end of McDonalds. It's big, so there is a lot ruin in a company, as Adam Smith might have said. It might even morph into something with the same name that has elements of the old fast food style but is essentially different. The fries, due to popular demand, will be the last to go.
Howard Johnson's ruled the highway landscape of my childhood. 28 flavors of ice cream, and the rest rooms passed my mother's sniff test. It was enough, and it looked like they would go on forever.
Oh yeah, pie. McDonalds used to have these deep-fried pies - apple and cherry, at least. When are those making a comeback?
Maybe that's the secret plan? 'Once our progressive credentials are unquestioned, we can bring back deep-fat-fried pies and french fries cooked in beef tallow because we'll get a pass like all progressives do. Then we reclaim our market share!'
ReplyDeleteA childhood friend has worked in management at McDonalds HQ for about 20 years. She is a lifelong progressive, but without any of the nasty snarkiness one often associates with progressives. She will retire before McDonalds goes down, so she won't go down with the ship.
ReplyDeleteA further irony about McDonalds labeling itself as "progressive" is that in general, progs hate McDonalds. They are not going to flock to McDonalds just because the company bills itself as "progresssive."
ReplyDeleteI see "progressive", and think progressive like a cancer.
ReplyDeleteRay Kroc, who bought out Manchester's McDonald brothers, was very conservative. I remember in my more liberal days being incensed that he donated a substantial sum to the "Campaign to Reelect the President" also known as CREP, which was the landslide that saw Richard Nixon take an ill fated second term. My, how things have changed! The good thing is that I got out of the habit of frequenting McD's in the 70's and have rarely patronized their establishments since.
ReplyDeleteMcDonald's has failed in that they didn't recognize and cater to their core customers. They listened to the squeaky wheel and hastened to grease it, not realizing that that wheel was on an entirely different wagon.
ReplyDeleteI gather the all-day-breakfast isn't working out so well. New toppings cost space, but maybe those can be squeezed in. New menu items they do all the time. They're changing the org chart...
ReplyDeleteDoes the adjective progressive refer to the company or the burger?
Michael, I understand Ray's wife was quite the liberal, and she outlived him.
ReplyDeleteWe are just polishing off homemade pie from our own ORGANIC apple trees (look like hell growing but taste sublime). Wish I could pass you all a piece...
ReplyDeleteI am going to play devil's advocate, yet again. :) I hate, hate, HATE McDonald's. Ever since I was a little kid, I would get stomachaches from that horrible fried food. We had to go there occasionally because my mother's college roommate's husband started a franchise near us.
These days, since I am a hearty eater, I suffer acutely on the six hour drives up north where McD's is the only place to stop (it seems) and my males are chomping down on dollar meals with the glee of coyotes sharing a Bichon Frise. I sit there snarling about how "I don't know how you can eat that garbage" more savage because I am STARVING. The only time I ever liked anything of theirs was the Egg McMuffin when pregnant with my eldest (I would barf all the way to the city on the commuter train, then eat the Egg Mcmuffin while walking the mile and a half to work. Garbage out, garbage in. To this day eldest is my most junk food oriented...coincidence?
All I wish is that they served a couple of things that people like me consider normal food, so that we could eat when the grease lovers drag us there. And I don't want a salad handled by anyone but me. Living in the Third World as a kid makes me wary of uncooked food handled by underpaid people in stressful working conditions. I'm thinking instead of something like Ikea's scrumptious Swedish meatballs and mashed potatoes and gravy and lingonberries. Or a piece of NONbreaded broiled fish and hot sauce with broccoli. I know, I know. What I'd really prefer is spicy curry or barbecue or pulled pork or some other delicious treat. But burgers? I make good burgers, why would I eat mystery meat on the road. And I grow fantastic organic potatoes, why would I eat greasy fries. Just being a PITA. I am a big fan of Chipotle. Our family practically went down on knees in thanksgiving when we FINALLY got one near us. My son will walk nearly 2 miles there and 2 back to get a burrito there at lunch. I guess I'm just a cultural cliche. I also like Panera. However, I virtually never go to any of these places. I go out for a restaurant meal maybe 6 times a year. Perhaps a couple times more since my kid got engaged, festivities.