July 15, 2009

McDonald's follow up

As a follow up to the previous post, I'd like to share what I call the trailer park combo. It consists of
  • Double Hamburger
  • Small French Fries
  • Large Soda
Right now the cost of this meal is $3 since all sodas are currently $1. Compare this to the quarter pounder value meal which is easily $2.50 more, almost twice as much, and only comes with a medium soda.

I also found this interesting McDonald's blog. The guy happens to be from Upstate New York

Where did the menu go?

I've recently noted a worrying trend, the lack of menus in fast food restaurants. I first saw this in a McDonalds on the high street in Kirkcaldy, Scotland (the one across the street from the house that Adam Smith was born in). The place had menu boards above the counter, but they only had the promos they were running and the combos. They did not have the individual items you could order. Even worse, I was in a Burger King that was serving breakfast but only had lunch menus up. I had to order by guessing what they would have based on a vague recollection of what an American Burger King would serve. They also didn't have trash cans but that's another story.

At first, I thought that it must be a UK thing, but I was at a McDonalds today in Pennsylvania and they also had this menu boards that really don't tell you anything. It didn't even have the dollar menu. How do they expect you to know what they have and how much it costs? Its a heck of a thing if you wanted to order something other than a hamburger combo. I can't image how this helps their business. What's the point of selling items if you don't let people know that you're selling them?

As a side note, there's been a gap between my posts since a bunch of stuff came up that complicated my visa. This move looks like it going to be a pretty frantic one.