Okay - it must be a regional thing.
In what has been semi-seriously referred to as "the world's largest 'HELP WANTED' sign", the Sangertown Square Mall (New Hartford, NY) restaurant (store #6079) is clearly seeking some new employees.
OK - first there was the BK fiberglass-faced King ads (freaky, scary, frightening, all come to mind).
Both the Hamster Ad and the Sasquatch Ad follow the same format: a Ronald McDonald statue sits in repose (like the stoic King, ho hum) grinning mindlessly while the other character does their own unique thing.
McDonald's Bob Langert, the man behind the company's "Corporate Responsibility Blog", just announced an interesting new initiative."We are rolling out an iconic way of putting nutritional information on our packaging. Check out the graphic here, which shows the five key elements that will help customers more easily understand their choices at McDonald's."
"McDonald's launched the official global rollout of nutrition information on our food product packaging in Torino, Italy, the 2006 Olympic Winter Games host city. Our two official Olympic venue restaurants and 24 other restaurants in the Torino area are the first McDonald's restaurants to have the updated packaging for customers. By the end of 2006, we plan to have the packaging in more than 20,000 of our restaurants worldwide. "Look for this in a store near you soon. If you want to let Bob know your opinion of this effort, go here.
"For the first time ever, McDonald's is offering an inside look at the Olympic
Champion Crew program by bringing you a series of blogs written by the crew members and managers present at the Torino 2006 Olympic Winter Games. You will have the opportunity to read blogs from McDonald's Olympic Champion Crew members from all around the world, each with a unique story and perspective, through which they will tell you about their experiences in Torino, Italy."
What a great scrapbook of comments, observations, and experiences from McDonald's elite Olympic Champion Crew.
The McChronicles has posted about the new McDonald's Corporate Responsibility Blog and commented to it a couple of times.
"Beep-Beep-Beep!". Field reports fly in from around the world here at The McChronicles. This SMS had an ugly tone."Waiting time was 20 seconds without anyone in line in front of us. Order taker didn't know about the meal we ordered. Had to seek assistance from a colleague. Didn't know how to remove receipt from the machine. Delivered food "to go" when we asked to eat in. Fries were cold. No paper towels in the rest room."
A McChronicles field reporter has reported some consistently tremendous service at the New Hartford, NY McDonald's drive-thru.
Friends of The McChronicles, Beth and Greg, recently celebrated their wedding. It was pretty much your typical protocol up until the junior bridesmaid announced that she was hungry.
Chinese New Year is a time for renewal. People clean their homes and businesses in preparation of a fresh start. The Taipei, Taiwan McDonald's is no exception."Two days before Chinese New Year in Taipei, Taiwan. Part of the New Year ritual is a spring cleaning before the first day of New Year. Everything gets cleaned, including signboards! The crew cleaning this McDonald's sign
was on a break."
Great image, Katong, and very interesting. Thanks.
The McChronicles: A blog about, not affiliated with, McDonald's.
Image: Katong on Flickr
According to an excellent report by our friends over at A Hamburger Today (such great writers):"For the 16th year, White Castle will turn hundreds of restaurants into love dens. Instead of spending hundreds of dollars on a night you'll likely forget in a week, go to White Castle and be seated by a well-dressed hostess at a table, complete with candlelight and tablecloth. At this point, you can feel free to stuff your faces. Even better, you could stuff each others."
The McChronicles combined two McDonald's Arch Cards today. It went off without a hitch.
OK, it's not really an official PlayPlace, it's more like a Kids Arcade. But it is kind of cool.Store #: 2454
Time: 12:24
Line
Wait: 0 seconds
Order Wait: 30 seconds
Service: Great
Quality: Very good
Cleanliness: Fair (wintry mud tracked in)
.0.jpg)
The arcade offers up air hockey (out of order at this visit), foosball, a video game console like you find in the stores that sell video games, and a handful of little kids games. It's a pretty cool place - and the perimeter is lined with tables from which watchful adults can survey the situation..0.jpg)
The McChronicles: A blog about, not affiliated with, McDonald's.
"Open For Discussion" is the title of McDonald's official blog. We don't know when it launched but (as of this posting) it appears to have only one posting.
NBC's Today Show is running a daily story on how to lose weight. Their expert has guided Al Roker to losing 12 pounds while eating at McDonald's (among other places).
Genius!"These McNugget images are pure poetry. And the fact that you enlighten us to
the deeper significance borders on magic. Excellent work."
Image #2: Lousiana (sic)
Image #3: Arkansas
So, like anyother customer, when The McChronicles dropped into Utica, NY's Mohawk Street McDonald's for a late lunch today, we hoped, expected that all would go well. Alas, it was not so.
Even though the store has two very large capacity napkin dispensers (the kind we rave about on The McChronicles), they were empty. These dispensers offer the crew both large capacity AND a simple, foolproof, early warning that the supply is dwindling. Both were empty. See the image - the red indicator was screaming at us from across the room (directly in front of, and near, the counter staff).
The McChronicles was whipping south on Interstate 87 (parallels the Hudson River and takes you right into New York City) when we felt the need. You guessed it - McDonald's!
Right on cue, the Golden Arches loomed ahead. We pulled in and ... wham! It hit us - this McDonald's is kind of special. No, there wasn't an amazing theme, a cool mural, or a world-class PlayPlace. Instead, the Ramapo, NY store (#12030) offered up a simple, elegant, dignified environment in which to enjoy a bit of fast food pleasure.
All items were bright and sparkly. The floor was CLEAN (thank you very much). Service was fast and attentive. And the ambiance was clearly above-average for a fast food restaurant.
We'd like to see ALL McDonald's eliminate the non-customer-friendly (confusing) drink lid dispenser. How about replacing it with something logical? How about LARGE at the top, MEDIUM in the middle, and SMALL at the bottom (with clear, professional labels)?
And, when it comes to condiments (in the iced tea area), this store falls victim to the same old thing that rubs us the wrong way across North America - those unprofessional, temporary YELLOW labels. How about acting like you're permanent and springing for some world-class condiment labels? 
McDonald's has a long tradition supporting and being involved with the Olympics. And, as we all know, China is hosting the upcoming summer games. This makes for a great opportunity to build the fervor by reminding Chinese customers (the world's hosts in 2008) of just how strong the McDonald's/Olympics relationship is.
.0.jpg)