Archive

12.23.2008

McDonald's Ever Shrinking Menu

As Hardee's menu continues to expand into a buffet-array of unneeded food choices; burgers, chicken, burgers, roast beef, deserts, breakfasts, hot dogs, chili dogs, coffee lattes, bistros, ice cream, pancakes, tacos....McDonald's continues to mysteriously shrink. Each time I enter the restaurant and look above the counter at the glowing plastic menus I spend a good two to three minutes searching for something that I want to eat. I don't know what I want, but I know that whatever I would get is not there, because there are only like seven things on the menu. Where each panel used to consist of numerous lines of text, they are now each dividded into seperate pictures. One big picture for each panel: a big mac meal, dollar menu, and two fancy sandwiches that don't look greasy enough for my consumption. And so I stare, look around for lesser advertised or hidden menu items...nothing. Are there menu items that still exist that you have to order through shady back-channels or code words? I'll have the you-know-what, covered in a s&^%$load of "ease-gre", please. McDonalds is widdling down its selection to the point where one day they will only specialize in double cheeseburgers covered in fries, like a hamhorseshoe, except it won't be covered in cheese because they're too stingy with it. I'm not sure where they get their dairy supply but it must be from some fancy cow reserve in Switzerland, where cows are each given a hundred acres of prime land to themselves, and whos teets are milked by only the smoothest of hands, preferably by hand-models. Yes, well, I just hope that in the years to come when they've regressed back to the 1930's and once again only serve HAMBURGER! (IT'S BEEF, GROUND INTO A PASTE!) that it will at least be the greasiest, most fattening, deeply satisfiying experience of my life. Grease is cheap, cheaper than whatever cheese they happen to be using, so by my calculations the only way they can make up for their poor selection is to increase grease production. Packets of grease next the ketchup dispenser would be fantastic. Thanks.
It could all just be psychology. Think about it, fewer choices usually make the available ones seem more seductive and delicious (like when you join the army and anything of the slightest femininity is coveted). Even if the best chefs on the planet were the cooks at Old Country Buffet, and prepared each dish with individual care, it would still suck. But, if you package crap in a way that looks like minimum wage employees are working ONLY on that ONE thing it fools the customer into believing the quality is higher, that it's something great. They imagine some elaborate process occuring in a secret kitchen area, where a team of Oompa Loompas dance and toss bags of secret ingredients back and forth to create a special ordered number 4 value meal.

No comments:

Post a Comment