Big Mac: Inside THe McDonald's Empire (repeat)

CNBC (American channel) is running this old show again. The McChronicles posted about it when we first saw it this summer.


We would like to repeat this sentiment:


It bothers us that most anti-McDonald's people point out that certain McDonald's items aren't high-quality foods while:

• ignoring the fact that some McDonald's offerings are, in fact, excellent choices
• failing to mention that EVERY mainstream grocery store also offers items which are not high-quality foods

We all know that the critics are blind to these issues since it does little to suit their purposes or gain them their 15 minutes of fame.

Be sure to check out the show's special detailed website which offers:

• program highlights
• a video gallery
• background on the show host

We would love to know what you thought of the CNBC McDonald's special report. Please comment.

The McChronicles couldn't find a show replay schedule on the CNBC website.

The McChronicles: a blog about, not affiliated with, McDonald's.
Image: CNBC website

McChronicles Interview

SoCal's FAST FOOD MAVEN interviewed The McChronicles, to share our top 5 McDonald's wishes for 2008 with their Anaheim, California readers.


As you may know, we really savor the total McDonald's experience, so our answers just may surprise you a bit.

Read The McChronicles interview.

The McChronicles: a blog about, not affiliated with, McDonald's.
Image: Fast Food Maven website.

McDonald's: Perfect Time To REEBOK Burger King

Nike Shox RULED the athletic shoe (sneaker, trainer) world.

Somewhere, off in the distance, Reebok and their man, Terry Tate, were busy selling their shoes.

Nike did it again, another awesome commercial, featuring a streaker at a football (soccer) match. The ad was simply fantastic, mesmerising. Some said it was unbeatable.


In one week, Reebok answered with one of the most memorable ads ever. Terry Tate REEBOKED Nike. AWESOME!


Fast forward to today's Burger King Whopper Freakout. The McChronicles must admit, it is an awesome concept and ad. Here is the 7-minute Whopper Freakout backstory. Here is the 30-second Whopper Freakout commercial.

With tons of time to react, and with the Super Bowl looming, it is the perfect situation for McDonald's to "REEBOK" Burger King.

Come on McDonald's! Do it for your fans.


The McChronicles: a blog about, not affiliated with, McDonald's.

Most Unique McDonald's In The World

The Travel Channel (USA) is running a show about the Top 10 Most Unique McDonald's in the world.

Peter Holden, billed as the Number One McDonald's Fan, leads the viewer on a tour. He claims to have visited nearly 12,000 McDonald's!

During the show we learned:

• there are >30,000 McDonald's operating worldwide.
• the oldest operating McDonald's is in Downey California, USA.
• there is a McDonald's PlayPlace in Dallas, Texas, USA that is designed to look like a Happy Meal. The show declares this to be the happiest McDonald's in the world.
• there is a diner in the Lafayette, Indiana, USA McDonald's. It has over 120 menu items not offered at any other McDonald's. Sounds interesting but gimmicky.
• Peter Holden has NOT yet been to the Arctic Circle McDonald's in Pitea, Sweden. Customers there hit the drive-thru on snowmobiles!
• Montreal, Canada is the home of the world's most unique McDonald's Cafe. There's a regular McD next door if the gourmet latte isn't enough!
• a two-storey McDonald's in Orlando, Florida, USA houses a mega-PlayPlace which hosts over 750 birthday parties per year. Pizza is available. Upstairs offers an arcade and a huge maze.
• The Roma, Italy McDonald's sits in the center of this great city. It is the most opulent McDonald's in the show - and maybe the world. This store has >800 seats! Their Big Macs are reportedly the most expensive in the world.
  

The McChronicles loved seeing some of the restaurants we have visited, especially the Times Square (New York City) store which, reportedly, has the largest McDonald's kitchen in the world. We also were quite interested in the stores that we have yet to enjoy.

The show will run through February 2008. Here is the schedule of next showings.
Check it out if you can.


The McChronicles: a blog about, not affiliated with, McDonald's.
Image: Travel Channel logo from discovery.com.

Flying Fry Ad

McDonald's has released a new ad, called Flying Fry, in specific US markets, aimed at Hispanic youth, "Lateens".

According to an email from Tremor Media:

"The campaign, which debuted Jan. 1 in 16 markets across the U.S., also includes
radio and rich media banner ads. "

The McChronicles' first reaction to the ad was that it doesn't seem to have any particular "Lateen" uniqueness to it (admittedly, The McChronicles is pretty clueless on the topic, so the signals may have been missed). We then settled with thinking, "Kind of cool". But, slowly, we got the feeling we'd seen it all before. Then it hit us, "Showdown" from 1993. This ad reminds us strongly of Michael Jordan and Larry Bird making their wild cross-town shots with a basketball. Replace our stars with two kids, the ball with a french fry, the hoop with a mouth, ... and you are an advertising genius, we guess. Hey, maybe one of these kids will parlay this into a Hanes underwear ad contract!

Deeper reaction:

• The MAIN thing McDonald's gets grilled for is health issues. The PRIME offender is the french fry (still not removed the trans fats???).
• The product they're advertising? French Fries!!! And they're targeting an audience who is struggling with reducing fat in their diet!!!

Who thought this was a better idea than an ad featuring how buying a salad at McDonald's helps the local Ronald McDonald House?

The McChronicles: a blog about, not affiliated with, McDonald's.
Image: Screen grab from MediaPost.

McBaby!

Thanks to The Fast Food Maven for making The McChronicles aware of this interesting story.

According to a report from CBS News:

"A baby was born in a Washington state McDonald's restroom and the mother didn't know she was pregnant."

The story goes on to reveal that the mother :

"... was working the night shift and ... suddenly ran into the restroom feeling ill."

Wow!

The McChronicles: a blog about, not affiliated with, McDonald's.
Image: screen grab from CBS news story.

McSkillet Burritos: evaluated

The McChronicles mused about the new McSkillet Burrito. Then, Michael Schroeder gave us the 411 on how good they are. Moved to action, The McChronicles travelled to Sarasota, Florida to sample this promising breakfast fare.

But first, the Sarasota McDonald's:

Store #: 5983
Address: 787 S. Washington Blvd, Sarasota, FL, 34239
Owner/Operator: Bob & Joan Davies
Store Manager: Heidi Martino
Time: 7:54AM

Pulling into the parking lot it was fun to see the store's windows being washed. The grounds were tidy and bright.

Walking in revealed a very typical, nothing special layout. The dining room has an old car theme, with a few basic pictures on the walls. Nothing special.

The Sandwich:
When asked about the popularity of the McSkillet Burrito, the counter person was unable or unwilling to converse in English. She turned the situation over to a manager. The manager confirmed that the breakfast sandwich is, indeed both very tasty and very popular.

The McChronicles ordered both an Egg McMuffin (control) and the McSkillet Burrito (experiment).

Bottom line, compared to the old standard (Egg McMuffin), the McSkillet Burrito is flavorful, exciting, tasty, moist, and very hearty.

A caloric or nutritional comparison was not made. Info anyone?

The McChronicles: a blog about, not affiliated with, McDonald's.
Images: The McChronicles. Why not a picture of the McSkillet Burrito? The McChronicles ate it before the shot could be captured!

McSkillet Burrito

The McChronicles was enjoying a "welcome home" lunch at McDonald's with a friend and noticed the ad (on the cup) for the new McSkillet Burrito.

We have not, yet, had the pleasure of trying this sandwich. Any opinions to share out there?

The McChronicles: a blog about, not affiliated with, McDonald's.
Image: The McChronicles.

Voice of McDonald's Competition

McDonald's is doing something kind of cool - and you can get involved.

Many countries/regions are now enjoying a TV show that pits wannabe pop stars against each other. Judges criticize, viewers vote - ahh, the drama! McDonald's has taken all that is good about this scenario and is staging a talent contest online. Introducing the Voice of McDonald's Global Singing Contest.

According to the website, the competition is for crew and managers from around the globe.

The McChronicles voted (actually "ranked") every one of the 35 contestants who are in the finals. They were down-selected from over 3,600 McDonald's crew and managers from 53 countries. Awesome!

According to a McDonald's press release:

The top ten after online voting will become global finalists and each will
win a trip with a guest to McDonald’s 2008 Worldwide Convention in Orlando, FL, April 14-17, to compete for top honors.

Cast your vote and have a say in the outcome by going to http://www.mcdonalds.com/voiceyourchoice.html, checking out the videos, and listening to the talent.


The McChronicles certainly has a strong opinion on two fantastic talents. Want a clue? Match the images posted here with the videos online (or just read the names in the images).

Great fun! Very talented McDonald's people.

The McChronicles: a blog about, not affiliated with McDonald's.
Images: screen grabs from http://www.mcdonalds.com/voiceyourchoice.html

A McDonald's Thanksgiving

Americans LOVE Thanksgiving. They bring the whole family together and gorge themselves on the traditional faire of turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and more. At least most of them do.

Then there is the group that dine at McDonald's for Thanksgiving.

According to McDonald's -> Management Blog, a large group of people take their holiday meal at McDonald's. In their post, titled "Gobble, Gobble" they express their surprise with the amount of business they had last week - on Thanksgiving. Here are a couple of quotes:

It's incredibly surprising how busy McDonald's is on Thanksgiving. It surprised everyone, including the owner and the store manager, who cut hours down to literally nothing. Then, during breakfast from 8 all the way to 10:30 breakfast cut-off, when we were really busy, and short-staffed, it surprised our
customers, as well.

Lunch was like a normal mid-week lunch. This surprised me more than anything.
Breakfast I understand. You're cooking up a storm for dinner, who wants to cook
a breakfast too? But lunch? At 1:30 PM?

Let The McChronicles know - did you dine, have you ever dined, at McDonald's on Thanksgiving?

The McChronicles: a blog about, not affiliated with, McDonald's.
Image: MasterPiecePumpkins website.

Europe's Most Visited and LARGEST McDonald's

According to this web page (http://www.munichx.de/essen/mcdonalds.php) this McDonald's is Europe's largest and most visited McDonald's.



Located in Munich (Zentrum) this restaurant boasts 3 stories.

The McChronicles: a blog about, not affiliated with, McDonald's.
Image: a friend of The McChronicles (thanks Anita!).

Germany's OLDEST McDonald's?

A friend of The McChronicles just visited Munich and files this report.

I believe this is Germany's oldest McDonald's. It is located on
Tegernseerland Str., Munich. I used to hang out here, smoke cigarettes, and drink Loewenbraeu bier inside. Pretty cool place.

Does anyone know if this really IS Germany's oldest McDonald's?

The McChronicles: a blog about, not affiliated with, McDonald's.
Image: a friend of The McChronicles (thanks Alen).

Vegas, baby!

The glitz, the glamor, the disappointment.

The McChronicles was walking the Las Vegas strip last week - taking in all the opulence. Suddenly, amongst the Ferrari dealership, the waterfalls, the Brooklyn Bridge, and the Eiffel Tower was this scuzzy little strip mall. And, shoehorned between FATBURGER and a tour agency, was a McDonald's.

The McChronicles has long expressed its supreme satisfaction with "theme McDonald's" - stores that adopt a local (or other) design theme. They evoke a oneness with their locale and gain energy from the synergy. When visiting a location with a strong theme (like San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury) or ... say ... Las Vegas, we HOPE for a McDonald's with a really cool local theme. Alas, it was not to be.

This McDonald's looked so generic that, upon walking in, the disappointment caused a loss of appetite. Later that afternoon, upon finding a second McDonald's on the Las Vegas strip, The McChronicles couldn't muster the enthusiasm to even check it out.

A little creative energy would have been greatly appreciated.

The McChronicles: a blog about, not affiliated with, McDonald's.
Images: The McChronicles.

World's 2nd-Busiest McDonald's

Khamzat Khasbulatov's Pushkin Square, Moscow, McDonald's (the 2nd-busiest in the world) seats about 900 people at one time, and he still can't handle the crowds!

According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, "On average, each (Russian) location serves about 850,000 diners annually -- more than twice the store traffic in McDonald's other markets."

Mr. Khasbulatov jokingly complains about having too many customers. He qualifies that by saying, "When I said I have too many customers, it's a nice problem to have. I would love to continue to have this problem."



Check out the Wall Street Journal video on this intriguing situation.

From the customer point of view, this must be a problem. The article goes on to state:

As for the persistent crowds, many customers remain indifferent. "Our country's a country of lines," says Andrey Shatskiy, a 40-year-old soap-opera cinematographer, while eating lunch at the Pushkin Square restaurant. "We all got used to it."

Walt Riker, McDonald's Vice President, Corporate Media Relations shared these photos of a trip he made to Moscow this past summer - depicting the throngs of customers crowding a different McDonald's. Thanks, Walt!

The McChronicles: a blog about, not affiliated with, McDonald's.
Video: Brightcove
Images: Walt Riker, McDonald's.

Specialty Coffee & Premium Beverages at McDonald's

Earlier this month McDonald's announced that they will add specialty coffee and other premium beverages to the menus at its more than 14,000 U.S. locations in 2008.

Has anyone seen this start happening yet?

The McChronicles: a blog about, not affiliated with, McDonald's.
Image: Four Sizes of Coffee in Moscow McDonald's: Walt Riker, McDonald's Vice President, Corporate Media Relations

FREE is Good

This arrived in today's newspaper. Can't wait!





The McChronicles: a blog about, not affiliated with, McDonald's.
Images: The McChronicles.

McDonald's STAR Manager Interview

The McChronicles was fortunate to stumble upon a real STAR recently. We briefly enjoyed the company of Yanna Deng, McDonald's Changan Branch STAR.

We don't know what "STAR" actually stands for, but it HAS to be good. Why? Because Yanna is. The Changan McDonald's (in Shenzhen, China's Futian district) is a true "neighborhood" restaurant. Nestled amongst small shops, and at the foot of housing blocks, the store serves students, families, and the neighborhood locals.

We managed to slow Yanna down for a few seconds to ask her about her job, and her role in this store. Here is what she had to say (the interview was translated between English and Mandarin. Any translational errors are purely the fault of The McChronicles):

The McChronicles: What is the role of a McDonald's STAR?
Ms. Deng: We organize social activities, events held at our restaurants. We especially focus on childrens activities.

The McChronicles: How long have you been here?
Ms. Deng: I have worked at this store for 2 years and have been with McDonald's for over 7 years. Many employees at this store have been with the company for a long time.

The McChronicles: Describe McDonald's MOM'S PROGRAM.
Ms. Deng: We have special "Happy Family Ambassadors" who emphasize a good experience for families while in our restaurant. The specially-selected employees must truly enjoy children and have a great sense of customer service.

The McChronicles: How is McDonald's keeping abreast of the huge changes occurring in China?
Ms. Deng: One big effort, and success, is keeping up with inflation. Even with this pressure, we have managed to keep our prices steady.

The McChronicles: What is exciting at this store?
Ms. Deng: Our new manager really emphasizes QSC (quality, service, cleanliness). Their focus has really improved our store tremendously.

The McChronicles: What is your favorite part of working at McDonald's?
Ms. Deng: I enjoy the collegial atmosphere, the happy environment, and the great team with which I work.

The McChronicles notes that this store was very clean and efficient. It was a pleasure to eat at this McDonald's. Thank you Yanna, and your entire team.

The McChronicles: a blog about, not affiliated with, McDonald's.
Images: The McChronicles.

Temporary McDonald's

The McChronicles has experienced this before. Still, we marvel at it, and want to report on it again.

What is it? It is a temporary, pop-up McDonald's. A small McDonald's is set up in a special tent, wherever needed.

In this case, the restaurant served thousands of conventioners in Shenzhen, China. When bringing people together from all parts of the world, it is important to satisfy everyone's basic human needs (enjoying a satisfying meal is one of them). This exhibition offered a pop-up Pizza Hut, a pop-up Chinese food choice, and a McDonald's. The McDonald's clearly had the longest lines of all the options.

The menu is very limited (chicken sandwich, sausage sandwich, Big Mac) with canned soda. When faced with the option of these limitations versus NO McDonald's, we'll gladly take this option.

The McChronicles: a blog about, not affiliated with, McDonald's.
Images: The McChronicles.

McDonald's Pineapple Pie

A cautious McChronicles tentatively bit into the piping hot dessert for a first taste of McDonald's Pineapple Pie.

The verdict? Awesome! Very sweet and flavorful. An excellent comfort food.

This great treat was found in Shenzhen, China.

The McChronicles: a blog about, not affiliated with, McDonald's.
Image: The McChronicles (pie is missing - we gobbled it up too soon).

What You See: What You Get

The McChronicles enjoyed the (much) larger than life glowing sidewalk billboard depicting the awesomeness of the McDonald's Big Mac while walking along a Shanghai street last week.

After being duly influenced by the huge advertisement we decided to drop into the closest McDonald's to see if the sandwich could live up to the hype. Depicted here is what we saw, and what we were served.

The sandwich was served up in sloppy fashion, with ingredients hanging out every which way. The pickle was barely along for the ride.

The McChronicles: a blog about, not affiliated with, McDonald's.
Images: The McChronicles.