McDonald's Wants to Re-Brand? Fast Food Needs to Rethink Everything

[xchrom]

http://www.alternet.org/food/mcdonalds-wants-rebrand-fast-food-needs-rethink-everything




1. Fast food’s global expansion prompts global obesity. The fast-food industry is a $225 billion behemoth and at the top of that pile is McDonald’s with $36 billion in U.S. sales. Subway comes in a distant second at $12 billion in U.S. sales, according to stats from QSR. You can find McDonald’s in more than 100 countries, in Trinidad, Puerto Rico, Vietnam and India. McDonald’s opened up 3,000 restaurants in five years between 2007 and 2012. In the U.S. there is one McDonald’s for every 22,174 citizens.

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2. Fast food’s tax evasion and lax laws. Looks like Burger King has bought Tim Horton's, eh? As we reported previously, Burger King’s acquisition is a sneaky way to dodge taxes. Executive chairman Alex Behring begged to differ, and said, “This is not a tax-driven deal.” Regardless, fast food has its way of getting what it wants, entering different markets and expanding its global reach.

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3. Fresh fruits. In 2011 McDonald’s introduced Happy Meals with sliced apples and caramel dipping sauce. Nearly one year later, Burger King and McDonald’s were informed of a potential listeria outbreak with their apple slices. The 1.2-ounce packages of apple slices, oatmeal products containing apples, and McDonald’s 5.75-ounce fruit and walnut snacks were shipped out to nine states before the recall. Burger King’s slices were also included in the recall. As company spokesperson Terry Hickey told AlterNet, “Any product with a growing cycle and potential impacts beyond our control, such as weather, can provide some challenges in that regard.”

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4. Sustainability. McDonald’s recently stated that it is making a commitment toward sustainable foods. It promises to begin sourcing sustainable beef by 2016 and adding more fruits and vegetables to its menu — a menu that contains more than 300 items. Every menu concept takes months, sometimes years to add. Like any restaurant, sourcing ingredients can be difficult, but put that in terms of a large fast-food scale and you have greater issues. In regards to its aspirations to buy 100 percent sustainable beef, some note that will take more than a decade.

[dipsydoodle]

1. A rose by any other name.

Must confess I do enjoy that stuff occasionally - just now and then mainly for convenience.

I do like the sustainable bit.

[DesertFlower]

2. i'm not a fan of them, but i have found

they have a grilled chicken sandwich with lettuce (the dark kind) and tomatoes. i tell them to "hold the mayo". it's a nice chicken breast on a nice bun.

i also like their apple pies which are baked -- not fried and not too sweet.

[pipoman]

3. Apples soaked in antioxidant (not the good kind) chemicals

And a tub of corn syrup laden 'caramel sauce' isn't exactly my choice of health food.

[Heather MC]

4. I stopped eating at mcdonalds after my then 7 year old got zits

And black heads all over his face, after we spent a week in my home town eating that crap. He is 12 now, so far no zits #Winning

[840high]

7. I go there for their

fish sandwich. Once a week.

[hobbit709]

5. They should call it McChemicals

[marions ghost]

6. Mc Foodsubstance

If they took away the salt, sugar and chemicals they wouldn't have a product that people would eat.

And then there's Subway and the yoga mat bread....

[MisterP]

8. guess "prison cafeteria" was a poor decor choice: maybe we'll see some retro style