Can McDonald's Survive?
 

The new CEO of McDonald's is unveiling a new master plan today to reverse the rapid decline of the most famous restaurant we all grew up with. I think they're fucked, I don't see how McDonald's can be anything than what it is, this young generation has turned its back on it - once young people decide you're not cool, bad for their image, you are MySpace.

Even if McDonald's wanted to remodel itself after Five Guys, Shake Shack etc it can't, from what I've read they couldn't even source the new/better ingredients to supply their thousands of restaurants plus they'd have to raise their prices substantially. 80% of McDonald's restaurants are franchises and the franchisees are freaking out.

that model has died. that's one the beauties of capitalism. even the greatest mordor-like companies can disappear literally overnight with a few missteps and changes in society.

the system that creates that antiseptic weird food is was what made them successful. it's in their dna. they can't change that.

they are always busy around here. i think they'd be better off to stick to cheap basic fast food rather than trying to compete with places like five guys. people don't go to mcdonalds for the taste, they go for the cheap prices and fast service.

Fuck 'em.

The service sucks 10 times more than the food.

It's the only place where they have trouble with a paypal card.
Wrong shit on the menu at late night; I place the order then they say "sorry we are not serving that at this time".


Disclaimer : If McD's raises min wage to $15/hour McD's will be great then because I will apply and quit web programming. :1orglaugh

If you think McDonalds will go the way of the dinosaur, you're crazy. You'll be the dinosaur first.

I hear that but major blunders can bring anything down.

They will do just fine regardless

True, but McDonalds will adapt before they die. :1orglaugh

Meanwhile I think 5 Guys makes an awesome burger. Hopefully they will be able to stick around and are not a fad.

Perfect subject for me today.
I used to be a fry cook at McD's when I was a teen and have come across a perfect location for a "hamburger shack".

Rent is rock bottom and the only reason it's available is all the people who rented the place before got closed for not having a grease trap and interceptor.

But I need $8k to put the grease interceptor in so that burst my bubble.

Anybody want to buy blackmonsters.com for $8k? :)

First burger with fries at 5 guys in Jupiter Florida was amazing. Loved the experience.

2nd burger with fries in Pigeon Forge Tennessee took a little to long, was way to messy and the fries were good. Felt as though it was overpriced.

3rd burger (again in Pigeon Forge) took way to long, was a sloppy mess and the fries sucked. All that for more than a decent burger at a sit down would cost. Never had a whopper and fries that were so bad and they cost 1/2 as much. Took the survey and told them about the experience, never heard back.

Sorry 5 Guys, but you won't see this burger loving guy again. Inconsistent quality, overpriced and no followup to a poor service.

The thing about McDonalds is that people eating there kinda deserves what they get.
It's poison and you'd have to be dumber than a piece of cardboard to go there (unless you are drunk as fuck lol).

Sadly, there will always be uneducated people so it'll be a long while until they close down.

i don't see much difference between mcdonalds or any other fast food place. its all just beef, fried chicken and fried potatoes.

McDonald's died for me 20 years ago.

Micky D's salad bar -- "would you like a super size fries with your salad?"

Same shit, new day ....

http://www.doublecheeseblogger.com/w...59486c0511.jpg

:1orglaugh

They r still very popular in Europe, much more than US I think.

Here it's far from fast... since they introduced those new ordering screens it takes like 3x longer to get the food. No joke, 7-8 minutes to score some mcnuggets now.

Mcdonalds Franchise owners still out earn the next closest (Wendy's) by 3x. Granted that is down from 4 years ago but its still the top franchise to own

McD's isnt going anywhere

The kids still want to go to mcD's any time they are allowed. It's responsible parents that aren't letting the kids eat there.

I have never had 5 guys. Sounds like I need to. The picture looks amazing but damn sloppy.

I like McD's about 3 times a year.

Beef isn't just beef.

I used touch screens for the first time last week when I was coming back from the UK.

It took me longer to place my order than with a human (and in another language) and they were still behind on fries when I went to grab the burger.

But, slow service seems to be pretty typical through europe (which is why I try to not eat at mcdonalds, it annoys the living daylights out of me).

same could be said for any fast food place. the idea that the food is poison is something people tend to just say without much thought. is it healthy? no. will it kill you? if you eat it every day 20 years, maybe but its not 'poison' any more than so many foods you find in your supermarkets, restaurants and in your fridge.

yes
http://media.komonews.com/images/sto...ald%27s%20kids

I remember when people were saying this about Blockbuster.

Wasn't true then, either.

Yes, as for starters not all cultures or sub-groups value the same things, or at least with different emphasis. For example not all decide their eating place based on how it reflects to the image about themselves. And even if they do; for example if they don't like yuppie, etc. image, they can choose McDonalds because it is less yuppie.

Yea but you must be aware that especially "food" from McDonalds is very bad, a simple google search will reveal this. They actually put so much nasty stuff in it calling it food isn't very accurate.

And it sure is a whole lot more poisonous than anything you'll find in my fridge and probably more so than almost all the food you can buy in the local supermarket - unless you count in the finished dishes you can microwave... but who the fuck eats that crap?

So when I say it's poison, I don't mean arsenic-that-will-kill-you-instantly poisonous. I mean that it's not really food. It's closer to candy than food.

Mickey D's running on empty. Closing 100 stores in Japan while Shake Shack is opening their franchises...Oops. :1orglaugh - Can't wait.

It really isn't poison. It has the same shit and even less than you will get from most stuff bought from store, unless you buy raw, not any way preserved meat, and fresh bread without preservatives. Though most bread around here hasn't preservatives, I don't think McDonald's buns have neither. It kinda depends is it locally produced or not. Which comes also to that McDonald's foods are not uniform in everywhere. BigMac is not the same in everywhere.


EDIT: The buns have some standard preservatives around here (E282, E300, E472e). Buns come from Finland (here), beef from Poland, cheese from Germany, sallad from Finland, pickels from Turkey, spices from UK, dried onion from USA, sauce from UK.

Big Macâ„¢ :: McDonalds.fi

hope not!

so you think only uneducated people eat there? This is wishful thinking. Just about everyone goes there at some point, including you. It's not poison either, far from it. It's just not a good choice compared to other food--you should know the difference.

People here in Slovakia do really enjoy their McDonalds, but i think it's seen as more of a treat than a regular meal. The restaurants are also a lot nicer in Europe. Everything is clean, the seats aren't all hard plastic, the workers are very friendly.

Not my thing, but I do enjoy the fries every 2 years or so.

But 5 guys... I look forward to that heart attack every time I fly to the US.

35,000 restaurants world wide vs 63. Yeah, they are totally hurting...

I think it's funny you guys are defending McDonalds.. but hey, at least you aren't saying it's healthy lol

They will definitely survive. They are a worldwide chain and so, chances of their demise are remote anyways. At best, their business might take hit and they might need to close some chains.

It ain't very healthy even if you make it yourself from the very beginning. But that ain't McDonald's fault. Although not that much unhealthy either. I think the most unhealthy parts in hamburgers are the white bread (buns) and sometimes the over abundance of the meat. Though you can have rye hamburger around here, so that part can be eliminated. Also, there are varying amounts of the meat. Fries, coke and that shit is always unhealthy, but those are not mandatory, but I don't think there is McDonald without hamburgers.

Ruis Feast :: McDonalds.fi

The McDonald's here locally is always busy. With that said, it seems McDonald's has a lot more competition than it did twenty or even ten years ago. I don't eat fast food often, but it seems to me there are a lot of new burger places to eat at.

Only the franchise owners are fukt dimwit.

that morgan spurlock movie was the beginning of the demise. when Supersize me hit, mcdonalds stopped being mcdonalds. they got rid of the supersize, got rid of ronald mcdonald. started this mccafe shit & the 1000 item menu, catering to everyone. now they are just copying the competition. sad.

they need to go back to being a simple, gluttonous fast food company. big portions. get rid of the coffee & health food. & bring back the fucking clown! breeding lifelong customers with that clown stopped when you dropped the clown. duh.

i just go for mcnuggets once in a while.

:2 cents:

Are you sure? I would bet most of the franchises are still profitable, based on the amount of people there. Have you heard of MANY (and as opposed to the number of openings) of them closing due to being not profitable?

As long as people from Alabama have debit card. McD's is safe.

I tried 5 guys in Montreal, way to over hype and priced IMHO. McD's will remain the cheap place to bring your kids for a Happy Meal

McDonald's
Burger King
Wendy's
Popeye's
Bob's Big Boy
In And Out Burger
Fat Burger
Del Taco
Taco Bell
Shake Shack
Five Guys
Roy Rogers
Dunkin' Donuts
Starbucks
Dairy Queen
Jack In The Box
Denny's
Arby's

Ah America is SOOO healthy!! LOL

What about white castle?

That burger gave me a boner!

don't forget hardee's.

McDonalds has responded to rising health concerns in the last 2 decades by lurching around, changing products, changing menus, changing marketing campaigns, stopped aggressively marketing to kids etc etc etc.

Most importantly, what used to be a treat is now something that for the most part, you'd be ridiculed for, had you admitted to eating there. It is has been a growing symbol of obesity and shame in America. Not the hamburger... but McDonalds itself. Thats nearly impossible to undo.

From a business standpoint, they have became increasingly unfocused over the years and continue to be even more unfocused going forward. They've pretty much destroyed their identity in the last 2 decades. Like any public company, the pressure of meeting stockholder expectations with short term fixes has not kept pace with a couple decades of a changing culture. I don't see them having much of a future and I am not surprised that each new quarter is showing more and more signs of struggling. Successful businesses do exactly what they've done. They remain fanatically focused, execute flawlessly over and over and over again.. then once they've reached a certain saturation point, growth slows and stagnates and then they start lurching around trying to leverage the "power of the brand" to try new things and this always comes at the direct cost of the thing that got them there. They remind me of dunkin donuts.... now with breakfast, lunch, sandwiches, coffee etc etc etc... and have left behind the very thing that got them where they are to begin with and total failure is imminent. In the business world, it tends to take time, but their impending failure, without refocusing on their core business, is certain.

Poor people can't afford shake shack and Five Guys. It'll always have its place as affordable calories. You can fill your guts for three dollars there.

They need to say fuck the health nuts and start marketing to kids again. They used to advertise the shit out of those happy meals. When's the last time you seen a commercial that mentioned a happy meal toy? Hell they should be running avenger related commercials 24/7 right now with some plastic piece of shit in there.

If you think I'm kidding look at what those horrible amiibo toys have done for nintendo the past year.An extra billion in revenue.