Mapping The American Burger Wars
The excellent WeatherSealed by Stephen Von Worley graphically illustrates the battle for dominance in the American fast food stakes:
Imagine, if you will, the burger force – a field of energy that radiates from every freshly-cooked patty, earth-penetrating and inverse-squared with distance, compelling the hungry carnivore to seek out and devour the well-done ground beef at the source.
Now, wrap that concept in a Star Wars motif – set in the present day, with the second-tier burger chains as the rebels – each, by themselves, without mutual aid, battling the 12,000-plus restaurant McEmpire. The situation is most dire, for the upstarts control but a few significant islands of territory amid the overwhelming and darkly-rendered influence of the McForce:
Territory controlled by the eight largest U.S. burger chains.
In this and the following graphic, each individual restaurant location has equal power. The…
Weight Watchers Endorses McDonalds
How to destroy your brand fast! As reported in the Guardian:
McDonald’s is hardly an ideal dining location for anyone struggling to stay slim. But the fast food chain scored a PR coup today when Weight Watchers agreed to endorse some of its products in New Zealand – a move met with outrage by nutritionists and obesity experts.
As part of the deal, which the company says is the first of its kind in the world, McDonald’s will use the Weight Watchers logo on its menu boards and Weight Watchers will promote McDonald’s to dieters.
The link-up is the fast-food chain’s latest attempt to improve its reputation by securing endorsements. In January, to the horror of gastronomes, Italy’s agriculture minister, Luca Zaia, helped launch the McItaly range of burgers. For a representative of…
Star Wars Teams Up With… Ugh… McDonalds
Great commentary by Killer At Large producer Bryan Young, in the Examiner:
Perhaps I have a different perspective on this than a lot of people, but I’ll explain it and hopefully you’re all with me on this.
Star Wars is doing a Happy Meal promotion with McDonald’s for their Clone Wars series starting Februrary 26th. (More information on that here). The 8 year old in me jumps for joy. The parent in me is filled with disappointment and disgust. My kids aren’t allowed to eat food of such poor quality and now I’m going to have to tell them they can’t have these Star Wars toys because I refuse to buy them junk food.
I understand that this makes sense from a marketing perspective, but the problem is that marketing junk food to kids…
McDonald’s In Guantanamo Bay
Did you know there’s a McDonald’s In Guantanamo Bay? It’s true. They’re currently hiring for the position of assistant manager. Notice how the listing avoids referring to Guantanamo by name, instead calling it “the United States Naval base in Cuba.” Apparently, no special security clearance is need for the job, just a desire to “Enjoy the perks.”
McDonald’s Louvre Opening Takes the Heat
McDonald’s is making its way to the Louvre next month. Some media sources are outraged by the move, but others wonder why not?
