A Put Up/Shut Up Moment For McDonalds

The competition’s tough. Baby, that’s a pity.

Plain-McDonalds-LogoMickey D’s just announced a horrible quarter. Profits are down 30%. According to Reuters it’s because of “a food scandal in China and tough competition in the United States.”

The competition’s tough. Baby, that’s a pity.

Where were we?

How will McDonalds go about building its profit? Will it raise its prices? This is what the fast food industry has screamed any time the subject of raising wages comes up.

My guess is price raising is the last thing they’ll do. And, in spite of their kvetching, it would also be among the last things they’d do if forced to pay a more reasonable wage to the McDonalds crew.

I get it. Underpaying employees is fabulously profitable. It’s also reprehensible.

Let’s see how McDonalds goes about dealing with this crisis. It will tell us a lot about their honesty on the wage front.

McDonalds made over a billion dollars in this past quarter on revenue of seven billion.

3 thoughts on “A Put Up/Shut Up Moment For McDonalds”

  1. Interesting!! I experienced a service issue in West Haven just last week that I was so shocked about that I did absolutely nothing about it re: a complaint to McDonald’s…. I usually eat a hearty lunch but when I have no time or no one with whom I could I have lunch I sometimes go to Mickey D’s! I drove up to the take out window and ordered a cheeseburger and a coke! Not too difficult…. I stuck my hand in the bag to get my burger…Funny thong…it wasn’t wrapped. So I took out the unwrapped burger and WHAT????????? I found the burger with a huge bite taken from it!! Was I ever pissed. BUT – my normal course of action – go in to the McDonald’s get the manager and raise hell. I was so angry at that moment that I feared that my anger would get the best of me. So I found the trash barrel and threw the partially eaten burger away. I then went to Cappetta’s grabbed a great grinder and that was it!! Thanks for reminding me about McDonald’s!!!!

  2. Geoff,

    There’s one key reason for the decline. QUALITY or the LACK OF IT. Look at the rapid rise of In-n-Out, Five Guys, Shake Shake, etc… A lot of people rediscovering the quality taste of a real burger with quality toppings. And not salted to excess.

    Even among their closer competitors, Carl Jr/Hardees makes a better burger. Same for Wendy’s. Last time I was in California, I liked what Jack in the Box (a totally different company than the cheapo chain we remember from the east coast).

    As one who has consumed far too many fast food meals in my time, the biggest sign of McDonalds corporate crisis occurred a year or so ago, when they dropped their better quality Angus burgers from their menu. They weren’t perfect. They were not as good as Five Guys or Carl Jr/Hardees — but the concept and execution were a step in the right direction.

    So what did Mickey Dee do? They pulled the plug on their best product introduction in years and retreated to the tasteless mushy Quarter Pounders.

    Time for a change in top management at the Golden Arches.

    The problem is not the price, it’s the QUALITY.

  3. Sadly, the lack of quality issue is what is going to kill McDs. Not that I’ll miss them—haven’t eaten there in years anyway. In-n-Out is far better, ditto Carl’s, and if I want a really good burger, I go to Red Robin.

    When McDs went from fresh potatoes peeled in the store to the frozen pap they call fries now, I rapidly lost interest.

    My wife occasionally insists on a McDs fish sandwich, but darn near anyone makes a better one, IMHO. Its overpriced and tasteless to me.

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