Two Big Macs and the bill please
In the wake of news that a McDonald’s restaurant in Newcastle will be getting the table service treatment, I ask why the overlord of fast food is bothering to compete with the ‘proper’ burger joints.
To some (me) McDonald’s means the double cheeseburger x 4, to others it’s a box of 20 chicken nuggets plus BBQ sauce x 5. Whatever a person’s guilty order, generally for the grownups anyway, McDonald’s is the really good really bad quick thing. You know the taste; you can taste a Quarter Pounder right now. It’s conquered the world advert by advert, store by store, plastic tray by plastic tray.
So why pivot to borrow from the new and hipper types?
At the turn of 2016, we are witnessing the establishment of the small(er) fries. Five Guys, Byron, Gourmet Burger Co., Handmade Burger Co., and more locally Fat Hippo. Sit down restaurants with own-brand beers, triple-cooked this and pink in the middle that. The humble burger and chips transformed, into a lovely dining experience.
Great design and organic ingredients have been painstakingly sourced, crafted and squeezed between four well-thought-out walls. Because a burger’s a burger’s a burger, really isn’t the case as our city streets continue to be turned nice. In this world then, how should the likes of MaccyD’s position themselves?
Recent re-brands by McDonald’s, KFC and Burger King have followed these nicer, reductive aesthetics of our time, tidying up the noise and leaving only the most distinctive assets — the things that make them unique. The problem is, fitting in like this on the surface isn’t going to solve the deeper problem.
The world is healthier today, or at least it’s very aware that it should be. These smaller fries like Byron, if you can call a national chain that, have flourished because of the quality of what they’re flipping over and serving up, yes it’s twice the price but they’d argue it’s quadruple the quality and experience.
For McDonald’s to pull back some of this trade they would need an overhaul of their business model. We all know it says 100% beef on the wrapper and that it’s responsibly sourced, but it’s still in-out, over-and-done-with fast food.
So instead of experimenting with the table service, why not be unapologetic about the brand. Yes, in a taste test the Big Mac can’t compete against The Byron, The Don, the Stinky Pete, or if you’re no thrills Five Guys — the cheeseburger. But does it have to?
Maybe the investors are nervous and need to see action. If this is the case then perhaps this is the time to readjust the exponential growth paradigm, and go back to the basics of looking at quality and how the product fits into people’s lives from now until 2026.
In this zeitgeist, led by technology, there is a cultural awakening towards obvious and perceived ‘healthiness’. Our smart watches congratulate us for moving and we have apps that order and track healthy food boxes. What are 20 chicken nuggets supposed to do?
Surely the answer is changing everything from within, or more realistically, it’s nothing at all and instead confidently marching the other way to make faster, leaner, cheaper tasty food — the world’s most popular street food maybe. The idea of table service at McDonald’s just seems contrary to what the brand means to the masses, and surely for any brand this is paramount.
So if the food doesn’t fit, maybe change the food before thinking about the way we order.
