Does McDonald’s need to try to change the world to win back its customers? Mickey D’s, still reeling from reporting its steepest monthly sales decline in 14 years, has been reaching out to ad agencies and media companies looking for advice on what kind of charitable partnership it can work up to help it connect better with its customers (specifically “millennials”), the Wall Street Journal reports, citing sources familiar with the matter.
fast food
McDonald’s Cutting 8 Menu Items Next Year And Narrowing Down Value Meal Options From 16 To 11
By 12.10.14
While McDonald’s customers will soon be getting the option to build their own burgers, the fast food chain’s menu is going to be shrinking a bit despite that new feature. Eight items will be hacked from the menu starting in January, and the extra value meal menu will be narrowed down from the 16 current options to 11 combinations. [More]
Burger King Fed Apartment-Hunters With Secret In-Home Restaurant
By 12.9.14
Imagine you’re on the hunt for a new, affordable apartment in a big, expensive city. You’ve spent all day going from place to place, hoping to find one that even slightly resembles what the rental agent promises. Then you go check out a possible pad, only to find out there is an operational, pop-up Burger King inside. [More]
Wendy’s Worker Doing Funny Voices Shows (Again) How Easily We Are Amused At The Drive-Thru
By 12.8.14
First of all, let me be clear: There is absolutely nothing wrong with a drive-thru worker, or any fast food employee, trying to lighten the mood and amuse customers. But I’ve got to wonder if perhaps the bar for personal interactions is set so low during those transactions that if a worker shows even the least effort in entertaining people, it’s like the most extremely hilarious moment of everyone’s lives, ever. [More]
McDonald’s Bringing Build-Your-Own Burger Option To 2,000 Locations
By 12.8.14
It’s been nearly 10 months since we told you about McDonald’s tiny test of a customizable burger option in a handful of its California restaurants. And in an attempt to turn around its sagging sales, the fast food megachain says it will be bringing the build-your-own concept to thousands more locations in the coming year. [More]
McDonald’s Customer & His Cat Pepper-Sprayed By Other Customer
By 12.5.14
Anyone who has worked in retail — especially foodservice — is familiar with pesky customers who have to repeatedly be told to leave the store. But one such standoff in Seattle apparently escalated quickly to the point where at least two adults and a cat were all doused in pepper spray. [More]
Man Arrested For Using McDonald’s McChicken As A Weapon Against Pregnant Wife
By 12.3.14
An ungrateful person complains when their spouse gives them a fast food sandwich they don’t like. A truly horribly human being assaults that spouse with the sandwich in question. [More]
What Does It Cost To Open A New Taco Bell?
By 12.3.14
Maybe you’ve been in that moment, chowing down on a chalupa and hating your job, thinking to yourself, “I should just open a Taco Bell and cash in on hungry suckers like me.” It’s not a bad thought, but making it a reality will cost you anywhere between $175,000 and $2.5 million. [More]
This Is The Future, And We Can Track Domino’s Pizzas From Our Wrist Computers
By 11.14.14
It was almost seven years ago that Domino’s introduced its Pizza Tracker, an online feature that lets customer keep track of what is happening with their pizzas right now, to within under a minute. In case you wondered what kind of glorious era we’re living in, the Tracker is now available for the Pebble smartwatch, meaning that you don’t even need to sit down at a computer to learn that your pizza is entering the oven right now. [More]
McDonald’s Created Bubble Gum-Flavored Broccoli To Try To Get Kids To Eat Healthier
By 11.14.14
Even though there are other, equally unhealthy fast food menus out there, McDonald’s is still the face of the industry and is often the target of critics, especially when it comes to marketing calorie-filled food to kids. But the company’s CEO says McDonald’s is trying to make changes, some more practical than others. [More]
Burger King’s Foray Into Cheap Chicken Nuggets Ends A Month After It Started
By 11.13.14
It was cheep — excuse me, cheap while it lasted, but it’s all over now: A little more than a month after Burger King heralded its cheaper chicken nuggets, selling a 10-pack for $1.49, the company says its reversing course and bumping that price right back up again by the end of this week. [More]
The McRib Returns This Week In 75% Of U.S. McDonald’s
By 11.5.14
Now that McDonald’s has reassured everyone that the McRib does, in fact, contain real meat, it’s time for the annual sandwich to return to the menu. Well, in most of the country. [More]
Arby’s CEO Would Like To Remind Customers You Can Customize Sandwiches (Sort Of)
By 11.4.14
It’s not a deli counter where you can order up sandwich fixins willy nilly, but the CEO of Arby’s would like to remind customers that you can customize your sandwich — well, to the extent that you can ask for things to not be on it, or for a different kind of bun. [More]
Burger King India Let Customers Pre-Order Sandwiches Through eBay
By 11.4.14
Right after announcing a deal with PayPal that will allow customers to buy food without cash or credit cards, Burger King tried out PayPal’s parent company eBay to let customers in India pre-order Whoppers before the restaurants launch in the Asian nation. [More]
McDonald’s Trademarks Slogans That Are Even Worse Than “Lovin’ Beats Hatin'”
By 11.3.14
Late last week it was reported that McDonald’s would launch a marketing campaign in January with the phrase “Lovin’ Beats Hatin'” at its center, but the reality of what the burger behemoth actually trademarked makes those three words sound almost authentic by comparison. [More]
McDonald’s Mistakenly Thinks Internet Won’t Mock “Lovin’ Beats Hatin'” Slogan
By 10.28.14
McDonalds’ — the company that is actively advertising the fact that some consumers believe there might be horse meat in its burgers — has a good idea for how it could be the target of additional mockery, with a plan to actually use the apostophe-abusin’ slogan “Lovin’ Beats Hatin'” in an upcoming campaign. [More]
It’s A Myth That Millennials Are Abandoning Fast Food
By 10.28.14
Millennials, as a generation, are roughly defined as “anyone younger than the senior Consumerist staff.” They’ve been the subject of hand-wringing in the fast food industry as industry experts fret that the young people just aren’t interested in traditional fast food, instead preferring slightly classier quick-serve fare like Chipotle or Five Guys. Is this true? Maybe not. [More]
Dear McDonald’s: If People Are Asking “What’s In Your Burger?” You’ve Already Lost
By 10.24.14
Unless you’ve completely managed to avoid live TV in the last week, you’ve probably seen the McDonald’s ad with footage from its public “question box,” where regular consumers ask the fast food company embarrassing questions. McDonald’s intends to use these ads as a platform for bringing the truth to the masses, but what it completely overlooks is that the real problem is the fact that people are asking these questions to begin with. [More]
