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Screaming Idiot posted:Mcdonalds coffee is horrible muck that's usually left to burn for hours because the employees are all idiot children or middle-aged losers who aren't paid well enough to give a gently caress about anything anymore. I was actually kind of impressed with the McCafe when I was visiting friends in Ontario. It certainly wasn't good good, but it was a ridiculous amount better than what I would expect of McD's, and the employees didn't look like they wanted to kill themselves.
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# ? Mar 10, 2016 23:26 |
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# ? Jun 13, 2024 05:04 |
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Croccers posted:
not gonna lie, that dessert window looks mighty tempting...
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# ? Mar 10, 2016 23:33 |
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Yeah I like what they've done with the McDonald's here in Canada. The coffee is good now, they have some nicer stuff on the menu and they still have the same "not be hungry for $5 options" they've always had but it's a lot less depressing to go in there because it's clean and nice looking.
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# ? Mar 10, 2016 23:52 |
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There's two type of McDonalds coffee. You have the crap you get from the Maccas side, then the decent enough stuff you get from the McCafe. Plus you can get stuff like macaroons and stuff too.
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# ? Mar 11, 2016 11:31 |
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It looks like Starbucks.
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# ? Mar 11, 2016 12:19 |
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Over the last year or so Dunkin Doughnuts coffee has gone from "decent but I feel bad about styrofoam cups" to "so bad that I will roll the dice with any random gas station". Which is a annoying as they are everywhere.
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# ? Mar 11, 2016 12:39 |
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If you can get it out of the fresh pot, McDonald's coffee is better than anything you could get from the grocery store just cause it has a tight supply chain that means the grounds are likely to be a little less stale. McDonald's has always been the aspiring fast food chain, like the joke is always about teenagers taking dates there. As an adolescent and teen there were plenty of times, pre and post value menu, where we'd decide something like McDonald's is way too high end so let's go to Taco Bell. There's less poo poo given about Wendy's attempts to appear gourmet even though they've been the challenger in that aspiring market class for as long as I can remember.
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# ? Mar 11, 2016 12:44 |
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CommonShore posted:The menu is covered with this stuff in Canada. I'm admittedly not a big Mcdonalds eater, but I have literally never seen someone order any of this. Every time I go in people want a) mcdoubles, b) nuggets, c) fries, d) ice cream cones. Even poo poo like Big macs only get ordered when someone has a coupon. I think McD's lost a lot of customers by dropping the premium menu. I used to stop by there drat near every day for either breakfast or lunch when they had the premium menu a few years ago (steak breakfast burrito, angus sandwiches, etc.) It was convenient, fast, and edible. Now I only stop by once every few months with the kids when we're traveling and it's the closest thing to the highway. My kids prefer Wendys even though they have crappy toys. Going cheap is not the answer when it comes to margin. Premium has much better potential. You just have to make it taste good. Remember, this is QSR, not Aquavit in New York. Of course it's garbage food. But garbage food is easy to eat when you're driving or in a hurry.
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# ? Mar 11, 2016 12:46 |
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Why does every discussion about fast food have to devolve into people either furiously excusing the fact that they deign to eat fast food or repeatedly pointing out that fast food is in fact garbage and they'd never eat it? This is a rhetorical question.
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# ? Mar 11, 2016 12:50 |
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Screaming Idiot posted:Ah, so it's an expensive greasy cesspit located on a prison colony. A vast improvement!
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# ? Mar 11, 2016 13:31 |
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Cowslips Warren posted:I put it down to the impulse buy. In some stores I deliver to, they tote impulse buys at the register....that average about $20 each. That is not an impulse buy. No one suddenly looks at a USB shaped like Tweety Bird and decides they want it. An impulse buy is almost change. Under 5 bucks. A dollar or two is easier.
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# ? Mar 11, 2016 14:38 |
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Any notables? Like, were you stocking pregnancy tests at the register, or what?
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# ? Mar 11, 2016 14:40 |
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mostlygray posted:I think McD's lost a lot of customers by dropping the premium menu. I used to stop by there drat near every day for either breakfast or lunch when they had the premium menu a few years ago (steak breakfast burrito, angus sandwiches, etc.) It was convenient, fast, and edible. Yeah, good point. I guess I'll emphasize that I'm not suggesting that McDonald's make the food crappier, but rather that they emphasize the simpler parts of the menu so that they can streamline their production and supply chains and make those items better, at better margins.
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# ? Mar 11, 2016 14:42 |
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OniPanda posted:As someone who was a register jockey for ten years, this is so wrong it hurts. I can't count the number of times I said there's no way this will sell as an impulse then I had to restock it. Yeah, you're not kidding. At one point I was putting random poo poo at the POS just to see if it would sell and goddamn, I was surprised every time. Not a Children posted:Any notables? Like, were you stocking pregnancy tests at the register, or what? For me, I think the weirdest "ok seriously this will never move" item was fingernail clippers. I guess people would set down their candy bars and fountain sodas and go "poo poo, my nails could use a trim." Another was novelty shotglasses shaped like shotgun shells, but this was a convenience store in the rural Midwest, so that was kind of cheating
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# ? Mar 11, 2016 15:13 |
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bongwizzard posted:Over the last year or so Dunkin Doughnuts coffee has gone from "decent but I feel bad about styrofoam cups" to "so bad that I will roll the dice with any random gas station". Which is a annoying as they are everywhere. The last couple times I've tried it it's made me and my friends sick at a few different stores so we've stopped trying. To add to this, I went to Burger King for the first time in years because I wanted a cheap lovely burg and two whopper meals came out to 15 bucks. What the gently caress.
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# ? Mar 11, 2016 15:15 |
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The McCafe coffee isn't terrible. It is espresso and not whatever demon piss the regular counter gives you. They seem to do well.
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# ? Mar 11, 2016 15:43 |
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I loving love fast food, sorry. It's weird because it's not particularly cheap here but it's still popular. I guess brand name really sells.
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# ? Mar 11, 2016 16:45 |
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When I was visiting Canada, I had to try the McDonald's "kale and feta breakfast wrap" out of morbid curiosity. It was, unsurprisingly, terrible. Do they still do those two tiny breakfast wraps with the lovely packet salsa? Those were good.
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# ? Mar 11, 2016 16:56 |
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insufficient guns posted:When I was visiting Canada, I had to try the McDonald's "kale and feta breakfast wrap" out of morbid curiosity. It was, unsurprisingly, terrible. Do they still do those two tiny breakfast wraps with the lovely packet salsa? Those were good. Do you mean the breakfast burrito?
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# ? Mar 11, 2016 16:58 |
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zedprime posted:If you can get it out of the fresh pot, McDonald's coffee is better than anything you could get from the grocery store just cause it has a tight supply chain that means the grounds are likely to be a little less stale. Taco Bell knows what it is and doesn't try to be anything else. It's a place for drunk and/or broke people to get cheap, mediocre tacos. Frankly it behaves like that. It has its niche and it does its thing without trying to expand far beyond that. Wendy's actually put forth effort into making their food better. Wendy's burgers are actually quite good. Granted the service has been universally terrible in these parts but hey can't win 'em all. Even so, Wendy's went the route of "hey if we make the food not be garbage I think people will buy it." Turned out to be true. McDonald's has been making the packaging prettier but putting increasingly bad stuff in it. They're pouring absurd amounts of effort into marketing and then acting confused when people won't buy the deluxe bag of poo poo because it's still a bag of poo poo. I had my first Shamrock Shake in years a few days ago and all I could think was "now I remember why I quit buying these." Used to think they were fantastic; now they're just a cold, bland, green drink that vaguely tastes minty. In the case of McDonald's it's stupid because they're trying to play themselves up like they're going artisinal and improving their stuff when really it's just the same crap as ever but worse.
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# ? Mar 11, 2016 17:14 |
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RBA Starblade posted:The last couple times I've tried it it's made me and my friends sick at a few different stores so we've stopped trying. Coupons are your friends. Those two whopper meals would be like, eight bucks if you got one of their coupon sheets in the mail. I wonder if half the people that complain about prices have ever used coupons because by god do they make shoveling your face with poo poo tolerable.
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# ? Mar 11, 2016 17:45 |
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I think someone else posted maccas in the US is likely the last to change, if ever. In other places in the world, tax is in the price, tipping isn't done in diners or restaurants (not that anyone tips at a fast food restaurant over there, but they have to compete with cheap non fast food restaurants or diners over there where people do tip). My point is maccas is not cheap outside of the USA. It's not cheap in Australia, which is why they have to become a premium brand to survive here; fast food in general isn't cheap in Europe either - find a nice hole in the wall or pub and the meals can even be cheaper than fast food conglomerates often are. Fo3 has a new favorite as of 17:53 on Mar 11, 2016 |
# ? Mar 11, 2016 17:50 |
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I feel like McDonalds' menu has an identity crisis. I still think of Burger King as a burger joint and Domino's as a pizza place despite the fact that each has added non-burger/non-pizza options, but McDonald's has put everything under the sun on their menu and now just registers as Generic Human Feed Trough. There's no emphasis on anything.
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# ? Mar 11, 2016 17:56 |
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Not a Children posted:Any notables? Like, were you stocking pregnancy tests at the register, or what? Those fly out the door after New Year's, Valentines, and prom season. I learned this stocking the pharmacy at Target.
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# ? Mar 11, 2016 18:43 |
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUCC8D0Pq_o A room of people watched this advert and said, "Yep, that'll do"
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# ? Mar 11, 2016 19:05 |
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Nipponophile posted:Isn't that what they tried to do with Chipotle's a few years ago? Yep. I mean, I guess they need to do it through some shell companies or something like that so people don't notice, but I think that's the plan.
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# ? Mar 11, 2016 21:28 |
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bongwizzard posted:Over the last year or so Dunkin Doughnuts coffee has gone from "decent but I feel bad about styrofoam cups" to "so bad that I will roll the dice with any random gas station". Which is a annoying as they are everywhere. I'm increasingly finding petrol stations have three people manning the cafe side and only one person actually at the petrol side - makes paying for fuel an annoyingly slow process. Also people stay parked at the pumps while they wait for their latte which further slows things down for the rest of us. I guess it's working though, there is way more margin on that than actual fuel.
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# ? Mar 11, 2016 23:58 |
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PYF fast food restaurant fanfiction
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# ? Mar 12, 2016 00:30 |
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While people who leave their car at the pump while getting coffee at peak hours are scum, I am amazed that anyone pays for gas inside anymore often enough for it to be an issue.
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# ? Mar 12, 2016 01:47 |
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bongwizzard posted:While people who leave their car at the pump while getting coffee at peak hours are scum, I am amazed that anyone pays for gas inside anymore often enough for it to be an issue. As another dumb (or perhaps smart) move in marketing most stations around where I live removed the pay at the pump option at about the same time the cafes started appearing.
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# ? Mar 12, 2016 01:56 |
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Just be happy you're not in New Jersey where you're not even allowed to pump your own gas.
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# ? Mar 12, 2016 02:13 |
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Mu Zeta posted:Just be happy you're not in New Jersey where you're not even allowed to pump your own gas. Actually Oregon is sounding even better than usual right now because having to go inside to pay for gas sucks balls.
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# ? Mar 12, 2016 03:00 |
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dissss posted:As another dumb (or perhaps smart) move in marketing most stations around where I live removed the pay at the pump option at about the same time the cafes started appearing. I still remember when my dad could pump his gas and then pay inside after. It's amazing gas stations did that for as long as they did. Shortly after I started driving gas hit $3 a gallon and every station became pay before you pump within a few weeks of reports of people driving off after filling up an SUV to the tune of 80 bucks or something like that.
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# ? Mar 12, 2016 03:26 |
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duckmaster posted:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUCC8D0Pq_o Seems fine to me?
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# ? Mar 12, 2016 04:12 |
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Full Battle Rattle posted:I still remember when my dad could pump his gas and then pay inside after. It's amazing gas stations did that for as long as they did. Shortly after I started driving gas hit $3 a gallon and every station became pay before you pump within a few weeks of reports of people driving off after filling up an SUV to the tune of 80 bucks or something like that. Pay at the pump started as a convenience as debit cards became more common. Now that debit cards are stupid easy to get and pretty much everybody has one it's like...most people were paying at the pump anyway. A few people bitched about it but for most folks gas stations making you go in and pre pay was a complete non-issue. I haven't paid cash for gas in like 9 years. At least.
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# ? Mar 12, 2016 04:24 |
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Quiet Feet posted:I feel like McDonalds' menu has an identity crisis. I still think of Burger King as a burger joint and Domino's as a pizza place despite the fact that each has added non-burger/non-pizza options, but McDonald's has put everything under the sun on their menu and now just registers as Generic Human Feed Trough. There's no emphasis on anything. Menu coherence is important. You have to have a goal and a brand identity. I feel like most major QSR places have lost focus. They were all premium for a while, and then went back to dollar menu stuff. They soon discovered that food cost would not permit dollar menu and then upped prices. This leaves them with poo poo food that has no perceived value. Hell, McD created the "My Crap" that is inedible. Say "McWrap" with a Scottish accent and you'll understand. Now they don't know what to do. Food cost at QSRs vary from 21% to 35% depending on franchise (Chicken v. Beef). Labor is up at about 30%, at least temporarily, and people don't want to pay more than a couple dollars for their garbage food. Overhead runs about 30% so now we're at "penny-profit" margins. That's why I believe QSR should focus on premium like Qdoba, Chipotle, 5 Guys, Potbelly, Noodles and Co., etc. I think that's where the market is. That's what I see my co-workers buying. They're willing to pay more for perceived value. Yes I angrily rant at my wife in the morning about QSR because I'm passionate about it. She doesn't give 2 shits about my thoughts but she puts up with it.
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# ? Mar 12, 2016 05:12 |
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I saw a billboard like this today: I guess that weird subset of adult women who're obsessed with Disney is much larger than I thought. I can't think of any other reason a children's cartoon would be considered an effective use for this campaign. It's not like kids really have a say or even care where their family gets a pet from.
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# ? Mar 12, 2016 05:34 |
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How Rude posted:Coupons are your friends. Those two whopper meals would be like, eight bucks if you got one of their coupon sheets in the mail. So here's my dumb move in marketing pet peeve. I get coupons all the time in both my mail and email that are almost universally useless to me. Why? Because nearly every single one is some variation of "Buy one meal, get the second half-off", "Buy 2 entrees and get a free appetizer", or "Free kids' meal with adult meal purchase". I am a single dude who eats out by myself all the time. And when I'm not alone, it's usually a spontaneous thing and not something I'll have my stock of coupons on hand for. Though I'm an overweight slob, I haven't quite fallen to the point of ordering two meals to eat by myself. Give me something that's "10% off your purchase" or "$1 off your next value meal" and it might get saved and used.
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# ? Mar 12, 2016 05:34 |
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Night Gaunt posted:I saw a billboard like this today: Well, yeah? I'm not really sure how that's surprising.
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# ? Mar 12, 2016 05:36 |
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# ? Jun 13, 2024 05:04 |
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Wanamingo posted:Well, yeah? I'm not really sure how that's surprising. I'm more concerned about if Ariel is going to take that cat underwater and drown out, or if the cat will become a catfish or what.
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# ? Mar 12, 2016 05:41 |